Through The Cracks
by LiliacSkies
Summary: What if Mal hadn't been picked to go to Auradon with her friends? Four months after the great proclamation, Evie, Carlos and Jay go back to the Isle to bring Mal to Auradon themselves. However, what can four months of abandonment do to a girl like her? (BenxMal) (Contains incredibly villainous Mal, ratings may go up due to this)
1. Prologue

_4 months ago..._

"You three have been chosen to attend a different school, in Auradon!"

Maleficent pointed her long bony finger to the three villain kids, more specifically Carlos, Evie and Jay, children of Cruella De Vil, The Evil Queen and Jafar. The Mistress of Evil was nothing less than intimidating to the three children, however, one stood bravely behind her.

Bravely, but mostly irritated.

Why had they been chosen and not her? Mal was the daughter of _Maleficent_ for evil's sake! She could only imagine all the wicked things she could do off the island, all that would make her mother proud.

"We're not leaving," Evie said firmly, crossing her arms.

 _'At least she knows where her loyalties lie_ ,' thought Mal, grinning as the boys took her same stance.

"This is not for us to ponder!" Maleficent exclaimed, once again pointing her finger at the young villains, "You will go to Auradon and show them what we're made of! Nasty, rotten and most importantly, evil!"

"We're not going without Mal," Carlos tried, standing a bit taller.

"Mal wouldn't want to go anyway, right dear?" Maleficent replied, spinning to face her daughter.

"Pfft. Me in a prep school? No thanks, you guys have fun," Mal replied sourly, knowing what was expected of her just from her mother's quick glare.

"Excellent! It's decided then! Go pack your things and bye-bye!" Maleficent clapped her hands, grabbing Mals arm and dragging her away.

All they got was a quick glance as a goodbye.

* * *

"Don't you want to be evil like me..."

Maleficent's humming couldn't have put her in a fouler mood than she was in now. She glared as the limousine drove away to the forcefield, shooting invisible daggers at the perfectly polished black sleek car. It was nearly mocking how it would glimmer back at her, as if reflecting all the beauty of Auradon back to the rotting island she called home.

Of course, not even Auradon could change her friends. They were rotten to the core, as was she.

At least she hoped.

"Now that those pests are out of the way we can finally get you back on track," Maleficent announced, sliding next to her on the balcony overlooking the Isle of The Lost, "They were influencing you with rubbish like 'friendship' and 'joy'. Oh please! The only true happiness is from hurting others."

Mal said nothing, letting her mother ramble on.

"You need to be ruthless and hardened as stone deary, that's the only way you can become me! That's what you want, right pumpkin?"

Mal paused. Of course she wanted to be evil, that was a given, but she also didn't mind the sunshine-like feeling in her stomach when she was with her friends having fun.

' _Well, isn't going to happen again anytime soon,'_ she thought.

She didn't really need to say it out loud, her mother had decided her answer when she was born.

"Of course, mother."

"That's my nasty little girl!"

And as she stared out to the glimmering lights of Auradon, she vowed that she'd be just like her mother. Hard as stone, emotionless, and most of all, evil.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **So this is my first time posting on this account, and I know this first part may not have been the best, but please bare with me! This is an alternative storyline to the one taken in the movie, and it will reference the prequel book "The Isle Of The Lost". Please leave any tips/suggestions throughout the making of this story, thank you for reading!**


	2. Chapter 1: Once upon an Isle

_Present..._

Mal struck the goblin with her staff once more, sending the creature tumbling down onto the ground. Some may see this as cruel, but for Maleficent, this was just mere training for her daughter.

A few months ago, Mal would've been on the floor in a few seconds battling the same goblin. However, thanks to her mother's intensive training over the past 4 months, she'd been able to reverse the roles and send goblins flying from every direction.

Besides, if magic wasn't availible, violence was the next best option.

Her mother had finally let her have her own staff; a long stick spray painted a dark purple with glass embezzled along its surface. Like her mother's, the top was adorned with a glittering gem, however hers was made of broken purple glass she'd found at the marketplace. Her staff wasn't made for magic, it was made for hitting and breaking things, for destruction and chaos.

Once she'd finished with her daily 4 hours of goblin fighting, she decided to make her way back home, twirling her staff as if it was a baton. Over the past 4 months, she'd accumulated her fair share of bruises and broken bones, however she wasn't in the position to be showing any weakness in front of her mother. She'd learnt to cope with the beat downs and the cuts, because as long as she was hardened as stone, nothing could touch her.

On her way home, she'd managed to pickpocket Ursula's necklace once again, and scored a few slightly bruised apples for breakfast. She waved to the Gaston twins as they too tried to scavenge for breakfast in the bustling market. All in all, it hadn't been a bad start to her morning.

However, she still had to do something bad. Something _wicked_.

She caught sight of something sparkling to her left. On one of the market stalls lay a beautiful, yet slightly tarnished jewellery box. A few jewels were missing, but surely she could find a use for it. Maybe sell it to the Evil Queen since she seemed to have a knack for shiny things.

Swiftly and quietly, she swiped the jewellery box off the table and into her pocket. After all, she and Jay had been the best thieves on the island, second to none, not even Jafar himself.

Well, that had all stopped when Jay left, of course.

Not one word, letter or even email had been sent to her from her 'friends' (well, not like she could read any email anyway with no wifi). She refused to think about them even for more than a minute. She was ruthless and vicious and in no way dependent on them.

Once out of the main marketplace area, Mal made her way back home. Maleficent had gone to pay Cruella a visit, she knew this from the screams of terror she'd heard leading to the De Vil household. Even in an island full of villains Maleficent could still make everyone cower in fear. She admired her mother for that.

After a few more minutes, she'd finally arrived to the ruins of a castle she called home. While most homes here were small and with low ceilings, Maleficent's home was much larger, with a view towering the rest of the island menancily.

Once inside, Mal pulled out the jewellery box, placing it on her bed and sitting in front of it with crossed legs and an excited gleam in her eyes. Who knew what could be inside it. If it was indeed from Auradon, it could contain anything.

She fiddled with the clasp for a few moments before the lid shot up, revealing a small, scratched mirror playing a sweet melody.

 _'I know you,_  
 _I walked with you once upon a dream...'_

The melody made Mal sick, however she kept the trinket open when the contents finally caught her eye.

There were a few pictures, some well-worn and some seemingly just taken. The first one was of a dark blue haired girl laughing with a tan brunette girl, both dressed regally and impeccably with a dog at their feet and teacups in their hands. Revolting.

 _Hold on a minute._

Upon further inspection, Mal realised something that sent chills to her bone. The girl with dark blue hair was Evie, the daughter of the one and only Evil Queen, and she looked like she could be on a poster for kindness. She was stunning as a princess, although Mal would never admit that out loud, and she seemed happy.

The next picture was also of Evie and the brunette, but this time with a few more people, including what remained of Jay and Carlos. Jay was wearing a sports jersey too! As if he was -and it was even painful to think about- in a team. She turned the photo around, reading the writing at the back.

 **'Best friends! xoxo**  
 **Carlos, Evie, Jay, Lonnie, Audrey, Ben, Doug, Jane.'**

Each name was written in a different handwriting and a different colour than the previous. She turned back at the picture, pausing to take in how her friends had changed, but also looking at one familiar boy in a blue suit and wearing a charming smile.

She discarded the photo, focusing on finding any loot for Jafar. However, she would never admit how it stung that she'd never been called a best friend, that she couldn't share that warmth her old friends were probably feeling.

Those feelings disappeared far too quickly, replaced with one of her personal favourite emotions; rage.

A few days before leaving, the four villains had been sat in the Evil Queens home as Evie tried to teach Carlos how to knit. The day had ended with each villain sporting a woven bracelet of their favourite colour, to represent that even though they were evil, they were united.

Evie's bracelet was in the box.

It looked a bit dusty too, which infuriated Mal even more.

She slammed the box shut and threw it across the room, landing in the already-broken mirror, falling into the pile of glass shards. She'd given up looking at her reflection three months ago.

Grabbing her staff once again, she stomped out of her room and out of her house, marching back to where the goblins had been that morning.

She may not have had magic, but she could just as well project her anger in another way.

* * *

"Have you guys seen my jewellery box anywhere?"

Evie was panting as she walked through into Carlos and Jays dorm room. They were on their respective beds, Carlos furiously tapping at his computer and Jay polishing yet another trophy.

"Which one?" Carlos asked, not even looking up from whatever he was intent on hacking.

"The one Fairy Godmother gave me on my first day," Evie replied, looking around the room hurriedly, "It has our photos and friendship bracelet inside, and I wanted to wear it for the meeting with Ben for good luck."

"Evie, you have plenty of bracelets, trust me I'd know," Jay reasoned, "Just wear one of the charm bracelets Audrey gave you, it won't make a difference."

"I'm not talking about any old bracelet Jay!" Evie replied exasperated as she looked under their beds, "It's one of the ones we all made together back at the Isle, remember? I took it off for the coronation a few months ago and misplaced the box!"

"Wait, why do you need it now?" Carlos asked, finally looking up from his computer.

The room fell silent as Evie and Jay looked at each other warily, then quickly looked away.

"Uh guys, is there something you aren't telling me?" Carlos asked, sitting up and closing his laptop.

"We wanted to make it a surprise," Evie blurted out, sitting next to Carlos on the bed, "We didn't know if it would work either so we didn't want to get your hopes up and-"

"Hold on," Carlos interrupted, "What are you guys trying to do exactly?"

There was a pause before Evie spoke up again.

"Bens been talking about letting other children from the Isle join us," Evie began, "So we were going to ask him if Mal could come and join us"

Carlos was silent for a moment, before launching himself at Evie.

"Thats such a good idea!" He exclaimed, breaking away from the hug, "But are you sure Mal won't be the least bit angry that we didn't think of that sooner?"

"We can deal with her," Jay explained, putting his fist in the middle of the circle of friends, "Together?"

Evie and Carlos put their hands on top of his, looking at each other determinedly, "Together."

* * *

It took a few hours, but Mal had finally finished fighting every hostile goblin she could find on the Isle. Once her anger was satisfied, she once again made her way back home, this time purposely avoiding the market and taking the longer path around the houses.

Her feet hurt and her arms ached, but she felt accomplished when she'd seen what she was capable of with only a staff. Becoming her mother, that was her goal. She was well on her way to becoming just as heartless as her, feeling nothing but satisfaction when she'd seen a goblin stumbling and limping away from her. Of course, she'd also tripped him up after that.

She stared at the barrier above her, wondering just how she could escape one day to terrorise Auradon, just like her mother. Destruction and fear was all she could think about lately.

 _"Yes we're gonna be spiteful..."_ Mal hummed under her breath, her mother's favourite song forever stuck in replay in her mind.

Music wasn't very popular on the Isle at all. There were the few odd songs you'd hear on one of the two TV channels, but any other music was quite unusual.

Mal's head hurt from thinking. That, or the lack of food, and she seriously hoped it was the latter, because there was no possible way she was that worked up over those pictures she'd found earlier.

Her rumbling stomach answered for her.

Recently, the Auradons leftovers had become scarcer than ever. It was hard to even find a whole banana these days. She didn't mind much, since she knew the Isle had survived on far less before in the harsh winters of previous years.

She'd arrived home with the idea of a delicious chicken soup a few minutes later. Thankfully, she'd managed to scavenge some a few days ago from the market before school. However, she didn't have time to even think about going to get it when her mother called her.

"I hope you've been out training all this time," Maleficent called from her plush, slightly-ruined green chair; her 'throne' of sorts.

"Of course I have," Mal answered, frantically searching for the soup in the kitchen.

"Hungry?"

"Obviously."

"Something big is coming," her mother mused, and Mal knew she was right.

Even without magic, her mother could make quite accurate predictions. For example, she knew when the weather would change or when the best food would be arriving. She even had visions sometimes, and Mal did too, only less often. However, her mothers visions would be of the past, little flashbacks of what once was, while her visions- well, she didn't really know.

They were always blurry, faces of people she didn't recognise blurred the more she focused on them. There was one person she could remember over the rest, however their features were blurred too. They were tall, and from what she could see also handsome, and had the ability to spark that little sunshine she had left when they grabbed her hand and ran with her.

Of course, it had to be fantasy.

Mal made her way to her room silently with the soup, just wanting to rest for the night. She hadn't been out late, in fact the sun was still out, however her muscles could only take so much in a day. Also, she didn't really value the days as much as she used to.

She ate the soup quickly, a habit she had acquired while living on an island full of thieves, and tucked herself away to bed.

"Evil dreams," she whispered to no one.

* * *

"Ben? Can we talk to you?"

Ben turned to face his dorm room door, where the trio stood nervously. However, Evie was determined, and her stance didn't falter in the slightest even when Ben shot them his signature golden-boy smile.

"Of course! What's up guys?"

"We, uh," Carlos stuttered, quickly being interrupted by Evie.

"We know you've been thinking about bringing more people like us from the Isle," Evie explained, then interrupted by Jay.

"And we kind of have a friend we left back there, and who'd really need this places help desperately, " he continued, "She was nearly as good as a thief as I was."

"Oh, and she needs some serious work on her hair from what I remember," Evie added.

"She probably has the worst parent out of all of us here. Maybe even worse than Carlos."

"But I'm sure she'd be a total sweetheart once she was here! Well, hopefully."

"And whose daughter might this girl be?" Ben interrupted, his smile still as radiant as when they'd stepped inside his room.

The trio hesitated, all but one.

"Maleficent's," Carlos blurted out, "She's Maleficent's daughter."

Ben paused. Of course he'd considered checking if Maleficent had a child, but it just seemed too... Unlikely, to put it in a nice way. Besides, he'd secretly been convinced any offspring would have been a dragon of some sort...

"We were actually considering recruiting new people next week," Ben admitted, "Of course as of right now there is only one available room, but I'll see what I can do for you guys."

Evie squealed, going to hug Ben tightly, "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Of course, they didn't know what they were signing themselves up for just yet.

* * *

 **A/N: So... What did you guys think?**

 **Love it? Hate it? Too short? Too Long?**

 **Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading!**


	3. Chapter 2: Lived a lonely girl

**Chapter 2: Lived a lonely girl...**

Knives were incredibly hard to come by on the Isle. However, Mal had her ways, and she'd decided to spend her Sunday morning playing darts with the few she'd managed to scavenge over the years. There was something off in the air that morning ,and she didn't mean the smell of the rotting food from the market. 'The future is hazy,' Dr Facilier had said to her that morning, and somehow it had perfectly described that morning.

There was a buzzing feeling pulsing through her veins, the adrenalin keeping her awake and steady as she threw knife after knife at the makeshift dartboard she'd created only a few days prior in front of the 'castle' she lived in. Well, it was more like ruins. Her mother was perched on the balcony in her 'throne', looking over the Isle as if she ruled it. Well, she did in a way. With fear.

Every knife she threw landed perfectly in the centre of her target. Her mother would brag it being the result of her intensive training, of course. Nothing less than perfect could please Maleficent.

The day was planned to be a boring one. Maleficent was planning on paying Jafar a visit, meaning Mal could tend to her cuts and bruises secretly.

Who ever said that being a Villain's child was easy?

Suddenly, the air changed. Maleficent seemed to notice too, sitting even more stiffly. It was as if for a moment, a ray of sunshine had crept through the island, pushing out the mist and the rotten for just a few seconds.

Then, Mal heard it.

Tyres.

The screeching and slipping of tyres approached her, as if a car was trying to make its way through the twists and turns of the streets on the Isle. Of course, that wasn't possible.

'But a car did come to pick Evie, Jay and Carlos up,' Mal thought, quickly shaking her head before a ridiculous idea formed in her head.

Maleficent, being higher up than Mal, had already seen what was coming. A shiny black limo, maybe shinier than the first one that had come, was approaching their home quickly.

Maleficent smirked, "I told you great things were coming pumpkin!"

A few moments later, the same shiny black limo drove hastily to the front of the castle, its engine dying down once the car was in front of Mal. She took a step back, not out of fear, but more out of defence. She didn't recognise the logo on the side of the limousine, but she knew it could only be from one place.

The driver's car door opened, a tall man with a dark suit stepping out. He had a stoic expression on his face, looking down at Mal, who seemed tiny in comparison.

"You're Maleficent's daughter?" He asked her, disgust evident in his voice as he looked around wearily through his dark sunglasses.

"Depends, who's asking?" Mal quickly replied back. She really didn't like how calm this guy was.

"Authorities of the United States of Auradon," He replied just as quickly, watching Maleficent descend from their home and stand behind her daughter, "You've been selected as a 'Villain In Need' to attend Auradon Prep."

"Yeah... No," Mal replied sharply, "I'm doing perfectly well here. I'm _not_ coming."

"Mal, honey, a word," Maleficent demanded, grabbing Mal's shoulders and turning her away from the man.

"Okay now listen to me very carefully," Maleficent began slowly in a hushed tone, "This is your chance to prove to me how evil you really are. _You_ can bring evil back in Auradon."

"And I'm meant to do that how exactly?" Mal asked, sparing a glance at the driver idly standing by.

"Do I really have to do all the evil scheming for you? I thought you were old enough for that," Maleficent scolded, pulling out her spell book from her cloak, "They have magic in Auradon, and once you can master these spells, you will be able to break the barrier and set us all free. Evil will rise, and it will all be thanks to you if you go."

Mal considered this. She knew her mother was manipulating her into freeing her of her prison, and it would truly be the evil scheme of the century, but could she really leave the Isle? She knew that once out of the barrier, everything and everyone would be different. But then again, you need to push yourself to achieve your goals.

"Alright fine," She announced loudly enough for the driver to hear, "I'll go. When do we leave?"

"As soon as you're packed," He replied, "Please, make that quick."

"Nasty..." Mal mumbled, "I like it."

And as she packed, she looked around her old, dusty room. Sure it wasn't much, but it was her home, and she wasn't sure if she could leave everything behind for her mother's greed. She looked at the jewellery box, which still lay between broken mirror pieces. She crouched down next to it, picking it up and slicing her hand in the process, but a simple cut like that was nothing compared to the throbbing pain of her bruises and in her stomach. She stuffed the box at the bottom of her ragged bag, as well as the rest of her clothes and possessions. Oh, and her mother's spell book, of course. It wasn't much, and she was soon ready to go.

"The future of the free world rests on your shoulders," Maleficent whispered through a forced smile as the driver took Mal's bag and threw it in the boot, "Don't blow it!"

"I won't mother," Mal replied through an equally forced smile, "I'm rotten to the core, remember?"

"That's my nasty little girl," Maleficent said as the driver returned, "Now off you go! Mommy will miss you so much!"

"I'll miss you too mother!" Mal replied, the sheer sugar sweet sickness of the statement making her gag.

She climbed into the car and sat on the plush leather, flinching as the car door slammed shut behind her. She could already feel the car engine rumbling to life, her stomach doing backflips, and not only from hunger.

Once it started moving, she could barely focus on the scenery around her. She'd seen the roads and the streets of the Isle more times than she'd care to count, and she didn't need the painful reminded of what she was leaving behind. It was all too sudden, already feeling like one of those stuck-up princesses watching the slums through black tinted glass. She was a villain, not a hero. She didn't deserve to be leaving. If anything, she should be the one _staying_. After all, she was the most rotten apple in the basket.

As much as her stomach craved it, she didn't care about the disgustingly sweet treats placed inside the limousine, as well as the 'Welcome to Auradon Prep' gift basket, also filled with those treats. She wouldn't cave in so soon, or at all. That just wasn't her.

She leaned back and closed her eyes, not bearing being able to watch her home slip away from her fingers like that. She was going to make her mother proud, she _had_ to.

 _"Don't you want to be evil like me..."_

* * *

"Today! It's today!"

Evie burst through Jay and Carlos' dorm room excitedly, waking them up in the process. She'd already been awake for hours, having had an early breakfast with Audrey and seeing the driver off as he made his way to the Isle for Mal.

"Its also 8am Evie," Carlos groaned, pulling his pillow over his face. Jay sat up from his own bed tiredly, rubbing his eyes and looking at Evie with a confused expression.

"Meaning we need to start getting ready! Mal is coming today, remember?"

Both boys froze, looking at each other. In an instant, they were up, wrestling with each other for the first bathroom turn. Evie gracefully slipped past them calmly, beginning to make their beds for them. She wanted everything to be perfect.

Evie hadn't changed much since she arrived, apart from discovering just how intelligent she was. She'd started dating Chad Charming a few weeks after claiming her goodness at the coronation party, and her outfits were always the pinnacle of fashion. She was delighted, blissfully happy. Well, apart from when Chad would stop her from studying with Doug to help him with Chemistry homework, but Chad was just... Well, charming. She couldn't refuse. She was blinded by the glamour of her new life, being able to be a part of the group of royals that basically governed the school.

Jay had quickly become the favourite of the team, but with that also came popularity. He didn't have as much time as he once had to hang out with Carlos. Sure, they shared a room, but both had very different lives now. Jay was always out with the team, eating every meal with them and studying with them when they didn't have practice. He was intoxicated with the idea of a team, to be able to count on others rather than just himself.

Carlos, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky as them.

He was still good friends with both of them, yet they never seemed to have time for him. He'd focused all his time on schoolwork, finishing homework at record speeds so he could continue investigating just how he could develop a new invention, or discover a new chemical reaction. He was engrossed with the beauty of science, therefore found himself spending a lot of time with Doug and Jane, who also seemed to have a knack for knowledge. Sure, he'd be teased by Chad and a few of the tourney players, but he was much happier living in Auradon rather than under the tyrannic rule of her mother. Sometimes his skin would itch from the ghost of the many injuries he'd endured over the years.

Even after branching out to other people, the trio were still very close. Therefore Evie was no longer surprised when Jay had put Carlos in a headlock.

"Mal will be here in just a few hours, and everything needs to be absolutely perfect," Evie said as she pulled out her blushed from her bag, re-applying.

"Who's she rooming with?" Jay asked as Carlos tripped him up.

"Well we were planning on having her room with me, but Audrey moved into my room last month, and the only spare bed is in Lonnie's room," Evie explained.

"Couldn't Audrey just- ouch Jay! -move back?" Carlos panted as Jay had pinned him on the floor, now sitting on his stomach.

"Mal needs to make new friends anyway. Rooming with Lonnie is definitely for the best. You know how sociable Lonnie is," Evie explained, "By the way, Ben said one of you can use his shower."

Jay quickly sat up and made a beeline for their bathroom, locking the door behind him before Carlos could push him out. Carlos groaned, trudging back to his bed and picking up the clothes Evie had already picked out for him.

"Don't forget to floss!" Evie called to Jay as he started up the shower, leaving with Carlos in tow.

"I'll meet both of you outside before lunch, I need to go find Audrey. Catch you later!" Evie called as she made her way swiftly down the corridor, greeting everyone she passed.

"She really is the perfect princess," Carlos mused, watching her for a few seconds before making his way to Ben's room.

Ben was one of the only boys on the team that hadn't picked on him yet. He was far too kind to do anything of the sorts. When he broke up with Audrey before the coronation, he'd spent a whole evening playing video games with Carlos and eating junk food. Sometimes, Carlos forgot Ben was meant to be the king.

Ben, although officially announced, still hadn't taken on the role of king. He decided to let his father rule at least until he'd finished school. He didn't feel ready for the responsibility that came with being a king. Well, at least not yet.

Carlos and Ben were by no means best friends, but the two could understand each other quite well. Ben knew Carlos had a tough time adjusting, and Carlos knew how hard Ben worked all the time. If they ever needed a break, the other was there for them.

"Mind if I use your shower?" Carlos asked Ben, who was pacing his room nervously.

"Huh? Oh, sure yes go ahead," Ben replied distractedly as he toyed with the ring on his finger, the one his father had given to him.

"Hey, uh, you okay man?" Carlos asked wearily, approaching him slowly.

"Yeah, fine, just a little nervous for today that's all," Ben replied, continuing his incessant pacing.

"Right... I'll just..." Carlos trailed off, making his way to Ben's bathroom and shutting the door behind him.

* * *

There was no point in pretending he wasn't nervous too. Mal was known to have a temper, and who knew what they were about to unleash on their school.

Mal wasn't sure how much time had passed since she'd first sat down on the plush leather seats of the limousine. However, she was certain she was no longer on the Isle when the ruined roads turned to vast oceans to perfect white picket fences and perfectly trimmed bushes.

In all honesty, it looked boring. Everything was too perfect. There was no chaos, no splurge of colours and textures. Everything was meticulously precise, and she hated it. She was creative; she didn't stay inside the box.

There were no rainbows or unicorns or dancing teacups behind every corner. In fact it looked a lot less magical than she'd imagined. Well, if she had imagined any of it of course. She didn't have time to lose herself in such frivolous things when her mother was beating down at her every moment of every day.

Soon, the limousine came to a stop. She was no coward, however she couldn't bring herself to look outside.

"We're here, Miss Maleficent."

* * *

 **A:N/ Thank you guys so much for the feedback I've been receiving on the story!**

 **Also, I'm considering including some Jaylos in this fic. However, that's up for you guys to decide!**

 **'Till next time!**


	4. Chapter 3: Whose hands were cold as ice

_**Chapter 3: Whose hands were as cold as ice**_

Mal took a deep, shuddering breath. She could already feel the disgustingly supportive school spirit creep inside the limousine as the driver opened his door. It was less than a few moments later that her own door was opened, flooding the small space with far too much light for Mal's liking. She shielded her eyes with her hand, refusing the drivers helping hand. There was a band playing, and probably had been since the limousine had rolled in.

She couldn't see anything as the sun was far too bright for her taste already. She was used to the dark shadows of the haunted forest where she'd train, or the grey cloudy skies hovering over the Isle. She most definitely wasn't suited for sun, especially in a place that just radiated it from every corner. There was a high-pitched squeal, and once Mal's eyes had adjusted to the light, she looked around.

She most definitely would have rather stayed on the Isle.

Everything was too bright. The plants were too healthy, the vivid green nearly making her squint. There was every single colour imaginable in the sea of students on her left, and a swarm of bright blue and music on her right. Everything was too fast and confusing for her. Too happy.

The music died down as the crowds eyes fell on her. Of course she knew what they were thinking, and she could make out a few scared faces in the audience. However, even in the blinding light she couldn't see Evie, Carlos or Jay anywhere. Well, she didn't want them to be there anyway.

"Welcome child!"

A woman popped out of the hoard of people, dressed head-to-toe in lilac with a brown uptight bun carefully pinned up on her head. She was followed by two other students, a female and a male, all three beaming at her.

That is, until they saw her face. Their smiles faltered, however the woman's smile grew even bigger, even if somewhat forced.

"Welcome to Auradon Prep!" The woman beamed, taking Mal's hand delicately between hers, "I'm Fairy Godmother, principal of this school, where learning is the only magic we need! We're running a little behind schedule, but I'm sure it was because of the traffic! I'm assuming you're Mal?"

Mal pulled her hand back in disgust from the happiness that just radiated from the woman. She stuffed her hands in her pockets, putting up her walls a little higher.

"Yeah, sorry I'm a little late. Nothing really happened, but I _really_ didn't want to be here," she replied sharply, "Oh, and also the whole 'I'm-banished-to-live-in-a-floating-prison' thing kind of made the journey just a tad bit longer."

Silence filled the air, Mal wearing a smug smirk on her face. However, Fairy Godmother hadn't seemed to be phased by the reply, and simply smiled back at Mal.

"Well then I guess we should get going!" She replied happily, pulling the two students behind her forwards, "This is Doug and Lonnie, your tour guides for the day! Its also been arranged for you and Lonnie to room together, so I'm sure you'll both make the best of friends!"

"Totally..." Mal replied, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

"Well, as I said, there's no time to waste! I must go attend to a meeting now, but Doug and Lonnie will get you all sorted out! I'll see you tomorrow dear!"

And with that, Fairy Godmother was walked away, leaving an unimpressed Mal and a pair of awkward heroes.

"Hi!" Lonnie spoke up, her colourful clothes just screaming goodness, "As you know I'm Lonnie, daughter of Mulan and your new roommate. I'm so excited to meet you!"

Mal grabbed her luggage and staff from the driver, swinging her staff over her shoulder as the band dismantled and people seemed to start to leave.

"Wish I could say its a pleasure," Mal replied, watching with satisfaction as Lonnie's face morphed into disappointment.

"I'm Doug," Doug quickly intervened, "I'm sure you're tired from your drive here, so how about we show you your room and class schedule? Classes start tomorrow for you, so you can use the rest of today to settle in."

"Oh, I won't be needing time to settle in don't worry," Mal replied, picking at her fingernails, "I'm not planning on staying for long anyway."

"We'll see about that," Lonnie said confidently, hooking her arm around Mal's and leading her through the school grounds. As much as Mal tried, Lonnie just wouldn't give up.

"This is where the magic happens," Doug announced as he unlocked the large wooden doors of the school, "Well, metaphorically of course, since no one really uses magic anymore."

Mal was about to question Doug when the doors were opened, the smell of cinnamon and spice hitting her.

The school definitely did seem cosy, she would give them that. The carpet was a dark royal red and the wooden panelling on the walls made the whole castle inviting. Well, as inviting as Auradon could be for Mal, which wasn't very. Students were bustling about, talking to friends and laughing together. It was totally different from Dragon Hall, Mal's old school, which was dark and damp and definitely not cosy. People would wave and smile at Doug and Lonnie, but then scatter away when they saw Mal. There was a weird look in peoples eyes when they saw Mal. Some where scared, but sometimes Mal would see a slither of something she'd never felt; pity.

"Evie, Carlos and Jay were going to come meet you earlier, but I'm not sure where they've ended up," Doug explained, "However I'm sure they'll show up soon."

"Also Ben should've been here too," Lonnie mused, "I wonder where they've all ended up."

Mal zoned out as they droned on about the different people in Auradon Prep. She really, _really_ couldn't possibly care any less for whoever Chad was, or why Audrey hates all uncomfortable beds with a specific burning passion.

"Do you guys ever stop talking?" Mal finally interrupted once they'd reached the door to her and Lonnie's dorm room.

"Nope," Lonnie replied playfully, "Now come on in!"

Lonnie opened the doors wide, Doug staying behind Mal as Lonnie lead her into the room.

The walls were a pastel pink with light blue decals, which fit Lonnie's personality perfectly. The floor was wooden, however there were so many carpets in the room that Mal was sure would make the Genie jealous. There were two beds, each on different sides of the room and facing towards the door. One had pink sheets in it, the other blue. Mal assumed the pink one was Lonnie's.

There was one large window in the room, between the two beds. Thankfully, the frilly curtains had been pulled together, minimising the light in the room. There were two wardrobes on the same wall as the door, once again in blue and pink. Also, there was a pin board next to the pink bed, covered in photographs of people. It was quite unsettling.

Mal was repulsed.

"So this is our room," Lonnie began, "I sleep in the pink bed, however you can have the blue one. Or we can swap if you'd like. The bathroom is right through that door, and the blue wardrobe is all yours."

"Yippie..." Mal muttered, dumping her bag on the bed and placing her staff next to a full-length mirror next to the bed. However, she didn't look through.

"I'll leave you to get settled then," Doug said nervously, leaving the room when Mal knew he was really just trying to get away from her.

Once Doug had left, Lonnie sat on her own bed, looking at Mal ambitiously.

"You're not evil," Lonnie stated simply.

"Excuse me?" Mal replied defensively, looking up as she opened her bag.

"You're Maleficent's daughter, sure, but I've read the real stories," Lonnie explained, "She was a fairy, and fairies are good, but she turned evil on her own. Technically, you're at _least_ part fairy, so there must be some good in you."

Mal looked at her in stupor. She didn't expect anyone to even consider being in the same room as her, and to question her evil was crossing a whole new line. However, she had to applaud Lonnie for her bravery.

"You're a little stupid, aren't you?" Mal replied simply, however Lonnie didn't seem phased.

"No, but I'm observant," She replied, standing up and making her way to the door, "I'll let you get settled and try finding Carlos, Jay and Evie. See you later, M."

And with that, she was gone.

Mal closed her eyes and collected her thoughts. On one hand, she could hex Lonnie out of existence, however on the other hand, she could possibly use her in some ultimate evil scheme to break the barrier. Mal was tired, too tired to be scheming, so she turned around and made her way to the wardrobe.

However, she forgot there was a mirror behind her.

She looked at herself for the first time after what she could describe as forever. She was paler, thinner, and had lost the sparkle in her eye that she'd always deemed as passion. However, the most noticeable thing was the multiple cuts and bruises on her face, explaining all the weird looks she had been receiving that day. There was a particularly large bruise on her cheekbone, and a few even on her neck.

She quickly turned away from the mirror, walking to the closet and dumping her things in without a second thought. However, she left her mother's spell book and her staff out.

Time to start practicing.

* * *

"There you guys are!"

Lonnie had finally found Evie, Carlos and Jay, all cooped up in Evie's room. They looked worried, scared even. Carlos was on Evie's bed sitting solemnly, Evie was pacing and Jay just seemed... Lost. Lonnie walked in tentatively, going unnoticed.

"Uh... Guys?" Lonnie tried, "You do realise Mal arrived like, an hour ago, right?"

"We saw her," Jay replied quietly, looking around the room as to not make eye contact with anyone.

"So why didn't you-"

"Lonnie, did you see her face?!" Evie exclaimed, stopping in front of Lonnie, "She was covered in bruises! And that's because of us! If we'd told Ben about her earlier she wouldn't be like that!"

"She looks so different..." Carlos mumbles weakly, "We couldn't bare to see her like that."

Lonnie finally understood what the trio was feeling; regret.

"Even her eyes were different..." Evie trailed off weakly, "When I first met her, even on the Isle, her eyes were bright. But when I saw her... Her eyes were bleak, cloudy... Lifeless."

Jay remained silent, staring out of the window. His hands itched to grab something and run, like he usually did on the Isle when he was nervous. Some habits never left the trio, for example Evie would create small braids in her hair when she was anxious, and Carlos would try to make himself as small as possible or hide. They may be good now, but they were raised in fear of their parents. Their habits were near to unbreakable.

"Listen guys," Lonnie began, "of course she's different, but so are you guys. You need to show her that you guys are there for her. Show her that good _is_ good."

Evie looked up at Lonnie, a small smile on her face.

Everything was going to be okay.

* * *

Mal's side of the room was bare in comparison to Lonnie's side. For example, Lonnie's bed had piles of silky colourful pillows, while Mal's had two simple white ones. Lonnie's bedside table had framed photos of her family and her, whilst Mal's was bare. Her drawers were practically empty, and her jacket hung limply on her bed post, sticking out like a sore needle.

She'd barely been in her room for a few minutes and she was already bored. She was considering reading through her mums spell book, however she didn't want to risk Lonnie coming back in and seeing it.

She was about to reopen Evie's lost jewellery box when there was a knock on the door. Hesitantly, Mal walked over to the door, turning the shiny gold door knob and pulling the door open.

On the other side stood a golden boy, his hair nearly as shiny as his personality. He had the perfect heart stopping smile on his face, his eyes twinkling as he looked up to the door. When his eyes fell on Mal, a strange expression fell on his face, as if he was recognising her from another time. His face returned to the gentle expression similar to his mother's.

"Hi," Ben said, extending his hand to Mal, "I'm Ben. I'm sorry I couldn't introduce myself when you arrived, but I trust you've settled in fine."

Mal hesitantly shook his hand, her skin nearly burning at the contact of his warm and confident grip.

"Yeah well, I didn't really have much choice in the matter now did I," Mal replied swiftly, pulling her hand away from his.

"You're as cold as ice..." Ben mumbled to himself, shaking his head, "Well, if you have any questions I'd be happy to help."

"That really won't be necessary," Mal replied, grabbing the door handle, "And I'm sure you have some goody-goody hero act to do, so I'll leave you at that. Goodbye."

And with that, she slammed the door shut.

Honestly, she was already practically gagging from the goodness oozing out of the walls. She jumped on her bed and grabbed her mother's spell book, flipping to the front. Every great evil scheme had to begin somewhere after all. However, she couldn't help but wonder...

 _Where have I seen him before?_

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **So sorry about the late chapter! I kind of got stuck towards the end...**

 **My aim is to update at least once a week, and I'm honestly humbled by the amount of support I've been getting on this story!**

 **I've decided not to include Jaylos as a romantic pairing in this story simply because I want to be able to focus on Mal and how she grows and changes with the people around her. If I end up writing a sequel, I may then focus on a possible Jaylos relationship.**

 **Anyways, thank you guys for reading!**


	5. Chapter 4: But who held a fire inside

_"Its beautiful, isn't it?"_

 _Mal looked around, her eyes falling on the boy next to her. Gold shiny hair and a gentle smile on his face, the opposite of Mal, with her ragged hair and mischievous smirk. However, in the moment their eyes met, she felt different. They sat on a grassy hill next to what seemed like a glittering lake, the water clearer than any lake she'd seen on the Isle. The sun was bright and warm on her skin, and she felt... Well, alive._

 _"Where are we?" She asked, suddenly alert._

 _"The Enchanted Lake, remember?" The boy asked, suddenly standing up and holding his hand out, "Follow me."_

 _Mal looked up to him, then his hand, then back to the boy. She didn't know why, but she trusted him in that moment. It might've been the sun going to her head, but she took his hand, warmth radiating from him._

And then, of course, she woke up.

Mal groaned as the alarm went off, the cheery 'Once Upon A Dream' song already irritating her. She slammed her fist on the device, stuffing her face back into her pillow as Lonnie cheerily jumped out of bed.

Mal had never, ever been a morning person. She'd never really had a proper reason to get out of bed anyway. Lonnie had left the curtains open the night before, meaning an annoyingly bright stream of sunshine was directly in Mal's face.

"Good morning roomie!" Lonnie exclaimed, pulling Mal's blankets off her, "Rise and shine! Today is your first day, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to be late for breakfast!"

Mal, against her better judgement, had decided to skip dinner to focus on learning her mother's spells. She'd successfully turned her bedsheets a dark purple and her pillows black, much to Lonnie's horror.

"Come on Mal, its not that bad here!" Lonnie tried again as she walked around the room, picking up bits and bobs and shoving them in her schoolbag.

"Honestly? I'll pass," Mal replied, sitting up, "Why are you putting that weird outfit in your bag?"

"It's a sports kit, silly," Lonnie laughed, showing Mal the pink tennis shirt, "Every student needs to take part in at least one sport during the sports lessons, which we have today."

"Yippie," Mal mumbled, falling back into her bed.

This was going to be a long first day.

* * *

"And this is the dining room!"

Mal would be lying if she said she wasn't the least bit in awe.

The 'dining room' was more like a dining ballroom. There were a sea of tables dotted around, and a large window wall overlooking a vast field, surrounded by forests and gardens. Overall it looked luxurious, peaceful, something that by nature Mal couldn't wait to disrupt.

"Mal!"

However, disruption would have to wait.

Mal and Lonnie turned around, facing the three not-so-evil villains. They looked... Well, different. Somewhat happier, but Mal recognised the glint of fear in their eyes. Everyone's eyes but Evie's.

"Yes?" Mal asked coldly, because to be quite frank, she didn't really want to be dealing with them today.

"We, uh," Carlos began.

"We're so glad to see you again," Evie blurted out, and that's when Mal really took their appearance in.

Carlos looked significantly healthier, however still wearing shorts and keeping to his mother's colour scheme. Jay had traded his leather jacket for a sports jersey and a jock jacket, both in Auradon blue. Evie looked a lot more princessy, with a real tiara and a blue summer dress. They all looked different, and that's when Mal realised they were different. All the evilness their parents had taught them was gone, replaced with kindness and beauty.

It was repulsive.

"Wish I could say the same Evie," Mal replied, placing her hands on her hips, "But I'd much rather be back on the Isle drinking mud coffee if it meant not seeing your faces again."

Silence fell in the hall as people turned around to watch. Even Lonnie was shocked at Mal's words, and she'd been rooming with her.

"Little harsh there M," Jay mumbled, stepping forwards with Evie and Carlos.

"Did you honestly expect anything else?" Mal questioned, "You guys may have gone soft, but I'm not backing down. I'm loyal, I know who I am. Nothing or no one here can change that, but I see you guys were actually weak. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have places to be. Come on Lonnie."

And with that, the trio realised that they weren't the only ones who had changed.

Mal was out of the room before they could really process what had happened. She didn't really need to eat breakfast, did she?

* * *

"So what did you guys do on the Isle?" Lonnie asked Mal as the two girls got changed in the changing room stalls.

They had decided to show up early for physical education. Well, Mal had stormed in and Lonnie had followed suit, going in the stall next to the one Mal had decided to lock herself into.

"I mean, I'm sure you were pretty scary eve on an island full of villains," Lonnie continued, "But whats did you do every day? Ooh, did you have tea parties in haunted forests?"

"Of course not," Mal replied, rolling her eyes.

"Hmm... Ghost horseback riding?"

"Not even close."

"Did you have kings and queens back there?"

"Well, my mother was an evil dictator, if that counts."

"Do you-"

"Do you ever shut up?"

Silence fell between the two girls for a few moments, until Lonnie spoke one last time.

"You don't have to tell me how you got those bruises, but they don't define you."

With that final statement, the bell rug. Girls immediately began flooding the changing rooms, halting any kind of conversation between the two. Lonnie left her changing stall, joining the other chattering girls in the main area and leaving Mal torn between wanting to rip off her head to applauding her for her bravery. She waited a few minutes before leaving her stall, putting her foot on one of the benches and tying her school-supplied trainers, smirking as the room fell into silence.

"Alright alright ladies!" A woman exclaimed as she walked in the room, "I'm Coach B, and today we'll be putting your physical abilities to the test."

"Oh the joys," Mal muttered, eyeing the overly excited cheerleaders next to her.

"First off!" The Coach continued, "We'll start by running laps."

* * *

Mal didn't know if it was normal to be feeling dizzy after doing laps. Usually, she'd be one of the best runners on the Isle, however today she was just... Off. Everything was spinning and she'd barely been able to complete the final lap.

"Alright ladies, next up is the rope climb! Now, who wa-"

"Watch out!"

Everyone instantly ducked as a ball came hurling their way. It hit the wall behind them, Ben and Chad running after it.

"We're terribly sorry Coach!" Ben apologised, a larger group of boys running towards Ben.

Mal wasn't feeling too well. The ball reminded her of- well, she didn't talk about it. A lot more had happened on the Isle of The Lost than anyone would think, and she really hoped she didn't have to bring back the awful memories.

She stood up with everyone else, yet she felt worse than before. The room was still spinning and her vision was playing up.

Before she knew it, she had blacked out.

* * *

 **A/N: ...The only excuse I can think of for this incredibly long delay is exams... So sorry.**

 **So, what do you think happened to Mal on the Isle? Please leave any suggestions in the reviews, and again, I'm so sorry for the delay!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 5: Once lived a golden boy

Ben cared about people, but maybe a little too much.

When he'd seen Mal fall to the floor, his first reaction was to push everyone out of the way to see if she was okay. Before he knew it, the school nurse had been rushed into the gym and Mal was being taken to the infirmary. Soon everyone went back to their lessons without a second thought to ask if Mal was okay.

However, something was left on the floor where Mal had fallen. It was glistening on the floor gym, unnoticed as the other girls continued their exercise. Before following the boys back into their own half of the gym, Ben bent over to pick up the object.

It was small. A scratchy purple piece of string with a single glimmering bead on it. The bead was silver, a small green emerald embedded into it. It was simple, yet somehow so... So Mal.

He carefully picked up the bracelet and stuffed it in his pocket, running to join the other boys in whatever sport they'd decided to play now. He'd return the bracelet later.

* * *

Mal awoke in an irritatingly bright room. The walls and floors were white, as well as the bed she was lying on. Gross.

Her head hurt and she was still a bit drowsy when an elderly woman walked in, her too dressed in white. Again, gross.

"Ah! You're awake!" the woman cheerfully exclaimed, walking over to stand next to her.

"Am I in hell?" Mal muttered, sitting up against the wall.

"Not quite dear," the woman replied, a smile still etched onto her face, "You're in the infirmary. You took quite a tumble during class, so we brought you here to get you checked up."

"Checked up?"

"First things first, I'm guessing you didn't have breakfast, correct?"

"Well yeah, but what does this have to do with-"

"You're absolutely famished dear! You fainted due to the low sugars in your blood. I'll have someone bring you something from the cafeteria immediately!"

With that, the woman hurried out of the room, furiously writing on her clipboard.

Mal looked at her retreating form in confusion. What the hell was an infirmity?

"You come here often?"

Mal jumped back against the headboard in surprise. Turning her head around, she was now facing a rather attractive boy, with frosty white hair and a blue hoodie. He was leaning against the wall on another bed, his knee propped up and his brown shoes discarded on the floor. He was pale, nearly deathly pale, and the dark brown pants he was wearing just highlighted it. He had piercing blue eyes, matching his hoodie, and was looking straight at Mal.

"What? Cheshire Cat got your tongue?"

"And you are?"

The boy smirked, flipping his choppy bangs to one side.

"Names Jack Frost. Well, Jack Frost Junior. My dads a little self involved... And you are?"

"Mal. Maleficent's daughter, if that wasn't obvious," Mal replied hesitantly, eying the boy carefully, "Where exactly are we?"

"Oh, I know who your mother is. Quite a show in the cafeteria this morning by the way," Jack smirked, turning to face the opposite wall, "This, my dear Mal, is where all the blood and the gore is kept safe and away from the rest of the school."

"So like a doctors office or something?"

Jack turned to her and raised his eyebrow, "You've never been to a school infirmary before?"

"On the Isle, you deal with whatever happens to you alone."

"Sounds lonely."

Mal squinted at him darkly, "Says you. I don't exactly see anyone waiting around for you here."

Jack smirked once more, "Well you see, people don't usually come visit people with a cut finger."

He held up his plastered finger to Mal before continuing, "I don't see anyone waiting around for you either."

"Thats because I like being lonely."

"I'm sure."

Silence fell onto the room for a few minutes before Jack spoke up again.

"Here."

Mal looked at Jack. He was holding a cookie gift bag towards her, wrapped with a sickly pink ribbon, "Audrey was handing these out earlier this morning to try to get elected for class president. Y'know, the obnoxious cheerleader?"

"Which one?"

Jack chucked, "But seriously, get some sugars in you."

Mal looked at him for a few moments, then the cookies, then back at him. She slowly extended her hand towards the bag, before grabbing it and pulling it back towards her quickly. She opened the plastic bag, dropping the ribbon onto the floor in disgust, before biting into one of the cookies.

Honestly, she could've been more careful. She'd learnt the hard way that not all treats were actually, well, treats. However, she was tired, and hungry and dizzy, and she was sure that Jack couldn't even hurt a fly if he tried with those puppy-dog eyes of his.

The cookies however. Dear Hades, they were delicious. Soft and sweet, just the opposite of Mal and everything Audrey was. It was like a sweet torture, biting into a haven Mal knew she could never reach.

She'd barely finished the third one before Jack spoke up again.

"So, how do you find it here?"

"Sickening. Repulsive. Disgusting. Way too happy. How long do you have?"

"Until Nurse Nancy makes me go back to class. Oh the joys of Chemistry. I'm trying to stick it out in here until the end of the lesson."

Mal raised an eyebrow as she swallowed the forth cookie, "I thought people didn't skip lessons here?"

"I'm not like most people."

"Then what are you like?"

Jack was about to answer before Nurse Nancy came back inside with a tray of various different foods for Mal.

"Ah! I see you've started already!" Nurse Nancy smiled as she saw the cookies, "Theres quite a few people outside waiting for you, y'know. I've told them to stay outside until you feel better."

"Who's outside?" Mal instantly asked.

"Ah well, let me see... There was that blue haired girl begging me to let her apply blusher on you... That kid from the Tourney team... Oh! Carlos was there! Always gets injured that one does! And I'm pretty sure they mentioned King Ben was coming. Didn't think you'd make so many friends so quickly!"

Mal rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, well-aware of Jacks burning stare, "They're not my friends."

"Whatever you say dear, now eat up! And Jack, I'll only let you stay in here this lesson because I'm going to need help restocking the sanitary items for the girls."

"Chemistry sounds much more appealing right now."

Mal snorted at Jack before digging into the food. Man, she could write an essay on the texture of the cake alone!

* * *

Ben showered quickly in the changing rooms before rushing out and briskly walking towards the infirmary. With any luck, Mal would still be there.

The bell for the next lesson had just rung, however Ben didn't mind being late if it meant he'd know how Mal was doing.

Really, he cared too much.

By the time he got there, only one other person was waiting outside. Well, technically two. Carlos was sat on one of the plush waiting seats with Dude on his lap, scratching his belly happily. However, there was no sign of the other former villains.

"Hey Carlos, you waiting for Mal?" Ben asked, taking a seat next to him. By the faint smell of flowery perfume, he assumed that Evie had been here.

"Yeah. Evie wanted to go to Chemistry next and Jay has Tourney practice. I have Home-Ec next, which I'd rather skip."

Ben chuckled, scratching Dudes head, "Do you know how she is?"

"Well, Nurse Nancy said she didn't want to see anyone, so I'm guessing shes back to her normal self."

"If she doesn't want to see anyone, why are you still waiting?"

"Well, shes going to have to come out eventually."

For the first time in months, Ben looked at Carlos. _Really_ looked. He noticed the faint dark circles under his eyes, and the way he'd lost half of the weight he'd gained over the past four months. Again, he couldn't stop himself from caring.

"Carlos, are you okay?"

Carlos looked at him quizzically, "Yes, why wouldn't I be?"

Before Ben could answer, Nurse Nancy opened the door again, carrying a silver tray with nothing but dishes on it.

"She said that you can go see her. But I'm warning you, she seems a bit icy."

* * *

With a full stomach and a little rest, Mal was gaining back the little colour in her skin. The food was amazing, probably the best thing about being in Auradon. Well, apart from the magic of course.

Jack was... Well, he was _cold._ Not in a spiteful or uncomfortable way. He was just... Cold. As if he was enclosed in a body of frost that protected him from everything else in the world. Mal didn't know what to think.

He was endearing to an extent. She'd heard about his dad, how he'd commanded the winter over Auradon for the first time many years ago. _Maybe Jack had powers too?_

"Who knew frost and flame could go so well together!"

Both Mal and Jack whipped their heads around to look at Nurse Nancy, who was oblivious to their staring and walked over to Mal.

"I've told the boys outside they can come in, is that alright dear? Theres only two of them."

 _Only two._ For some reason, that hurt.

"Sure, whatever," Mal replied coldly, putting her barriers back up instantly. Jack raised an eyebrow at her, but remained silent.

Carlos was the first to walk in, holding Dude in his arms. To Mal, he looked like a scared little boy, which confused her. He should be happy now that he was out of the Isle and away from his mother, right?

Then why did he look so miserable?

"Hey Mal," Carlos said hesitantly ad he approached her, "How are you feeling?"

"I've had worse," Mal replied instantly, glaring at him.

He may look innocent, but he was still one of the people who'd left her behind.

"I wanted to apologise," Carlos began, looking down to his feet, "When we got here, we all got a little too caught up with ourselves. We all drifted apart, and well, we didn't really talk about the Isle. Ever.

"You... Mal, you were the spirit of the island. Leaving you behind meant leaving our past behind, but that wasn't fair on you. I'm sorry we forgot about you."

Mal seemed surprised. Before she could answer, Ben walked in.

"Hey Mal, you feeling okay? Nothing broken right? If you want you can probably sit out the rest of your lessons for today. Maybe even the whole week. I mean-"

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, _prince,_ " Mal replied, grateful for Bens timing, "I think I'm going to head back to my dorm to take a nap. I'd appreciate it if you guys left. Seriously. Go."

Carlos was out the door quickly, but Ben waited.

"I found this on the floor in the gym," Ben said as he pulled out the bracelet from his pocket, "I assume this is yours?"

Mal grabbed the bracelet, inspecting it for any sign of further damage before slipping it back onto her wrist. She looked at Ben.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Mal spoke up defensively, "You can leave now. I'm not gonna die any time soon."

With one last lingering look, Ben was gone.

"Man, you're icier than me."

Mal smirked at Jack wickedly.

"You ain't seen nothing yet."

* * *

 **A/N: LONGEST CHAPTER YET?!**

 **So I'd just like to clear up a few things;**

 **1.) This is a BENxMAL story, so no, Jack and Mal won't be in a long-term romantic relationship.**

 **2.) Jack is inspired by Jack Frost from Rise Of The Guardians. If you haven't already, please watch it.**

 **3.) You guys have given me some AMAZING ideas from your reviews, so if you have any suggestions or ideas or anything you'd like to see in this, please leave a review! Thank you so much!**

 **As always, see you in the next chapter!**


	7. Chapter 6: Who never learnt how to love

_**A/N: I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING SOONER!**_

 _ **Basically, I write all my chapters on a different site and publish them on this account, but for some reason, I could not find this chapter for the life of me. Finally, I found it under a different Fanfiction name.**_

 _ **Anywho, let's get onto the story!**_

* * *

Ben didn't love Audrey.

He hadn't loved her when they were dating, and he certainly didn't love her now.

Of course he cared for her, but he could never bring himself to say the words. In his opinion, 'I Love You's were overrated. His father hadn't said 'I Love You' to his mother for longer than he could remember, however it was clearly obvious that the king loved his queen.

Ben didn't like I love you's.

* * *

A week after the 'incident' as she called it, Mal had managed to work her way through half of her mother's spell book successfully.

She'd have gotten through the whole thing if Jack hadn't gotten involved.

Every chance he got, he'd drag Mal out of her room and force her into some ridiculous activity, such as pulling pranks or running through the forest at midnight. She'd never admit it, but she enjoyed pulling pranks on clueless students with Jack. He was like a gush of fresh air in the sickeningly joyful Auradon Prep.

However, Mal wasn't totally blinded by his good looks. She knew there was something he was hiding from her, but she didn't really care. She was still the same Mal; cold as ice with impenetrable walls built around her.

Mal stood at her unbearably bright blue locker, wondering what she could spray paint on it when none other but Audrey walked towards her, a not-so-friendly smile on her face.

"Mal," She began, "I think we need to have a talk."

"Huh, never thought I'd be having a conversation with a walking and unfortunately talking candyfloss stick," She replied snarkily, slamming her locker shut and walking away.

"Your attitude is just... Ugh!" Audrey continued as she followed her, "But that's not what I'm here to talk about. You need to stay away from Evie, Carlos and Jay!"

"What do you think I've been trying to do?" Mal replied, "I'm not looking for friends here Audrey, and even if I was, I would not be looking to befriend that backstabbing trio."

"You seriously have no heart do you?!" Audrey exclaimed, "Thats why you go so well with that Frost character!"

"Excuse me?" Mal stopped, turning around to stare Audrey down, "Feel free to say whatever you want about me, but don't you dare bring other people into this. You clearly have a problem with me, and thats fine, but princess or not you do not have the right to undermine other people who have nothing to do with this. Now, if you excuse me, I'll be leaving."

With that, Mal stormed down the corridor, taking a mental note to 'accidentally' let a couple of rats lose near Audrey's room.

* * *

"So rumour has it that you punched Audrey in the face."

Mal spun around in her desk chair to find Jack casually leaning against the door frame. Lonnie had left for cheerleading practice earlier that afternoon, meaning Mal had the room all for herself for at least four hours.

"I wish I had," Mal admitted honestly, "But no. I had a little chit-chat with her, which she did not like. Why do you think I punched her?"

"Scooch," Jack replied simply, motioning for Mal to move off the chair. With a roll of her eyes, she stood up next to the computer monitor as Jack sat down and started typing furiously.

"What on earth-" Mal began, but was quickly waved off by Jack as he clicked on something.

"Found it!" He exclaimed proudly, sitting back as he clicked on a video.

"Jack, what on earth are you-"

"Shh!"

The video started with someone positioning a camera above a lunch table in the dark, probably at night when no one was around. The video then went fast-forwards to lunch time, the date at the bottom from today. There were numerous people sitting at the table now, and Mal instantly recognised two of them.

Audrey and Evie.

 _"She was so rude!"_ Audrey's high-pitched voice exclaimed, _"All I asked was for her to be nicer to you Evie, and she punched me in the shoulder!"_

 _"That's horrible!"_ Evie exclaimed, making Mal roll her eyes in disgust, _"Is there a bruise?"_

 _"Thankfully no,"_ Audrey replied, _"But it's best if everyone stays away from her. She's dangerous!"_

"And where did you find this exactly?" Mal asked Jack after he put the video on pause, leaning against the desk with her arms crossed.

"There's this mysterious vlogger that posts videos of people from hidden cameras," Jack explained, "Not many people watch their videos. Audrey and her group made sure of that. The only people that watch these videos anymore are us underdogs. Whoever came up with this idea is a genius, look at these ones..."

The next half-hour was spent going through video after video posted by the mysterious vlogger. By the fifth video Mal had to admit that she was hooked. Whoever was doing this knew what they were doing. Every time there was a clip of the camera being positioned, all you could see was an arm setting it up. Mal learnt more than she'd ever care to learn about the Auradon Prep student body in that short half-hour.

Then she noticed the bracelet.

"Jack, rewind and pause for a minute."

Right there, in black and white, was a familiar charm bracelet with different Chinese symbols on each of the circular charms. It took Mal a moment, but soon a wicked grin was plastered on her face.

"Jack, I think I may have just found out who's behind the videos.


	8. Chapter 7: But his eyes shone bright

Ben expected to see Mal wreck havoc throughout the school, but he did not expect to see her sitting on the bleachers watching cheerleading practice with none other than Jack Frost.

They both seemed infinitely bored, which made Ben question their presence even more. However, what really caught his attention was the way Mal was looking at Lonnie, staring her down whilst Lonnie stayed oblivious.

He returned back to his senses when he felt Jay tap his arm.

"Hey dude, you okay?" He asked, and thats when Ben realised how different everyone from the Isle had become over the months.

Jay was no longer the violent thief everyone had pegged him to be. He was a lot more gentle now (well, apart from when he was on the field) and no longer thieving. Dozens of girls would fall to his feet, but he seemed interested in none of them. He had his eyes on someone in particular, Ben was sure, but he had yet to figure out who.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Ben replied, clapping Jay on the shoulder, "Let's get back to practice."

Just as he turned around, he caught Mal's eye, but she looked away far too soon for Ben's liking.

* * *

"This is torture at its finest," Mal complained, "And I was thrown into a tank full of piranha."

"You must have a twisted sense of fun back at the Isle."

"You scared Frost?"

"Nah. I like it."

Before Mal could reply, she noticed that the cheerleaders were now scattering, meaning practice had ended.

"Come on Icicle," Mal called as she made her way down the bleachers.

By the time she'd found Lonnie, most of the cheerleaders had left the field. Lonnie was just about to make her way to the dorms when Mal stopped her, surprise evident in Lonnie's face.

"Mal!" She squealed in both terror and surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"Well," Mal began with a sly smile on her face, "Me and Ice Pop over there were just browsing the net when I saw a rather interesting video series about Auradon Prep and-"

"Please don't tell anyone!" Lonnie blurted out, "Only Doug knows because he helps me edit the videos, but please please don't tell anyone! I could get expelled!"

"Oh don't worry your pretty little head about that," Mal said, "I've got a plan."

* * *

"So you and Audrey are done for definite, right?" Jay asked as he pulled his normal clothes out of his gym locker, "I mean, nothing's going on between you two?"

"No, why would there be?" Ben replied confused, "I broke up with her because... Well, it just wasn't working."

"Just wondering," Jay replied nervously, "Hey by the way, have you seen the new video from the mystery vlogger?"

"You know I don't watch that stuff," Ben replied as he pulled off his sports jersey, "Why?"

"Because the mystery vlogger filmed Audrey and Evie talking about Mal punching Audrey," Jay explained as he leant against the lockers, "I can't say I'm surprised if I'm honest."

Ben looked at Jay incredulously, "Excuse me?"

"Well, y'know," Jay began, "Mal was raised by Maleficent, so I wouldn't be surprised if she developed some violent tendencies. Audrey is right; she doesn't fit in here at all."

Ben slammed his locker shut in anger, causing multiple people to turn to look at them. He looked at Jay in horror, not believing his words.

"Jay, if I remember correctly, your father is Jafar, one of the most famous villains in the world," Ben began, "You do not have the right to judge Mal for her parents, and you know that Audrey always over exaggerates situations. You may have come to the light side, but you still have a lot to learn about people."

With that, Ben stormed out of the locker room, leaving a shocked and guilty Jay behind in the dust.

* * *

Mal knocked on the dormitory door loudly, causing Lonnie to jump behind her. Jack was standing next to Mal, resting his elbow on her shoulder.

"So, what's your plan exactly?" Jack asked as Mal shrugged his shoulder away, "Are you just going to march in there and threaten the poor guy?"

"Not exactly," Mal replied, grinning as the door opened.

Doug stood at the door trembling at the sight of Mal. He relaxed a little when he saw Lonnie behind her, but grew tense once more when he saw Lonnie's panicked expression.

"We need your help," Mal began, pushing past him and storming into the room, soon followed by Jack and Lonnie.

"E-Excuse me?!" Doug stammered, closing the door behind the trio.

"You see Doug," Mal began, placing a hand on her hip, "We're going to turn Lonnie's videos into the talk of the school."

"That's your plan?" Jack asked, "Start some silly gossip?"

"It won't be so silly after I add a special touch," Mal explained, "Doug, pull up today's video."

Doug immediately went to his desk and started searching for the video online. When the video had been put onto full-screen, Mal approached the desk and leaned over the desk chair. With a smirk, she pulled out her mother's spellbook and flipped through a few pages until she'd found the right spell.

 _"Akr avectru anges mortele,  
Aria vec tu sir te alis."_

"That's one creepy chant," Jack commented, but watched in awe as black and purple sparks flew from the page into the computer monitor, the people in the video changing and morphing rapidly.

"Press play," Mal ordered smirking as she shut the spellbook.

Doug immediately pressed play, and couldn't believe his eyes at what he was seeing.

Audrey and Evie had been morphed into Lonnie and Doug, speaking and talking just like them.

 _"Lonnie, I have to confess something..."_ The Doug on screen began.

 _"What is it, my love?"_ The Lonnie on screen asked, causing Jack to start laughing behind Mal.

 _"Last night, during our most-passionate moments, I realised that I-"_

"ALRIGHT! THATS ENOUGH!" Doug exclaimed, blushing bright red and clicking off the video, "What do you want us to do?"

"It's simple," Mal explained, Jack composing himself besides her, "If I cast the spell on the video after it's been published, it will only affect the video on that computer. However, if I cast the spell whilst the video is still in editing, once it's published everyone will be able to see the spelled version. If you let me spell tomorrow's video, I won't tell anyone who's been publishing them."

Lonnie and Doug looked at each other nervously, "And if we don't agree?"

"Then I'll spell it anyway, but make it a lot worse. How about 'Mulan's Daughter Kills A Bunny-'"

"Deal," Lonnie interrupted, holding her hand out for a handshake, "You can spell tomorrows video."

Mal grinned wickedly, shaking Lonnie's hand firmly.

The plan was working perfectly.

* * *

 **A/N: What do you think Mal's going to do to the video?**

 **Also, please keep leaving any suggestions or comments in the reviews, they really help me!**

 **Until next time!**


	9. Chapter 8: They were drawn to eachother

"So you're telling me there is no way out of here?"

"Nope."

Today was not a good day for Maleficent's daughter.

To begin with, she'd woken up far too early for a villain on a school day, Lonnie's chipper singing from the shower having disturbed her most pleasant nightmare of the week. With a groan, she'd gotten ready an hour before she usually would, leaving a very moody Mal to endure the struggles of a morning at Auradon Prep.

Then, some kid had bumped into her on the way to breakfast, causing her to unleash one of her less-practiced spells and letting out an epidemic of butterflies rather than toads, which had made everyone extremely happy. It was disgusting.

Then, during gym, the teachers had decided that a game of dodgeball with mixed boy-girl teams was a great idea, and although Mal's team had won, they'd sent her and none other than Prince (King?) Ben to put the sporting equipment back.

Which lead to them being locked in the sports equipment cupboard together with no way out.

Mal was not having a good day.

"If only I had my spell book..." Mal muttered as she sat against one of the walls, "Why is it so hot in here?"

"The air-con is broken in here, so its slightly higher than average temperature," Ben explained, trying to unlock the door.

Mal leaned heavily against the wall. She'd spent days trapped in Cruella De Vil's fur closet, with high temperatures and barely any room to breathe. Her mother thought it would help her training if she could survive in such conditions, but in reality all it did was make Mal fear small stuffy rooms. The heat didn't help either, as she was used to extreme colds rather than extreme heats.

She was able to contain herself for the most part. She focused on one spot and breathed in deeply, then out, then back in, and so on. She could survive a few more hours in here, she was sure of if, and soon enough someone would notice Ben gone, right?

The heat was getting to her head quickly. She felt dizzy and malnourished, the latter probably being her fault, but she was determined to stay awake.

Ben sat across from her in the little room, having given up on opening the door for now. He looked at Mal worriedly, sitting a little bit straighter as he observed her.

"Mal, are you alright?" He asked, tempted to place a hand on her arm.

"I'm fine," She grumbled, "Just hate the heat."

They sat in silence for a while, the only sound being their breathing. After a few minutes Ben noticed that Mal's breathing wasn't steady. It was ragged, fast, and only seemed to get faster as the minutes ticked on.

Then, there was nothing.

Ben looked over to where Mal was sat. Only that she was no longer sat in place; she was laying on the ground with her eyes shut, motionless.

"Mal?" He called tentatively, kneeling next to her, "Are you alright?"

When he got no reply, he tried to shake her arm gently.

Nothing.

"Oh no," He muttered to himself, sitting Mal up, "This is not good."

* * *

 _Dodge. Duck. Dodge. Hit._

 _Maleficent's Goons were amongst the toughest creatures to battle on the island. They were fierce, having being created by Maleficent herself, and would stop at nothing to complete their master's orders._

 _Today, the mistress of all evil had ordered for the Goons to attack Mal until she could no longer stand._

 _Thankfully, Mal had been training hard for the past few months, so in just over an hour she'd taken five out of the six Goons out. The last one was proving to be a little bit more difficult, having gained a few hits on her._

 _"Must obey Maleficent," It would chant, over and over until Mal had to smack his head with her staff to get him to stop._

 _By the time she'd taken him out, she was exhausted. The sun had set not too long ago, meaning she had the whole night to walk back home on the other side of the Isle. She really didn't like her mother's methods of teaching sometimes, but she knew that this was the only way she could become stronger. To become pure evil._

 _With a deep breath, she stood up and began walking through the dark forest towards her home, ignoring her aching limbs and bleeding lip. She was not going to be spending another night in the forest this week; she was still scrubbing away the dried blood on her leg from the previous night._

 _The path home always changed, and sometimes she wondered if it was because of her severe lack of sense of direction or if her mother's magic had somehow been returned to her to make Mal's training even harder. She kept walking fearlessly however, because she knew that she could take anything the forest had to throw at her. Anything._

 _However, what she hadn't accounted for was magic._

 _She'd taken a break after a few hours of walking, the moon now shining brightly onto the forest meadows. Nothing was pretty about the forests on the Isle. Most of them were polluted, with rotting fruits and savage creatures, and of course the occasional teenage girl with a psychotic mother. She leant against a tree to catch her breath, not caring that her clothes would most likely be stained by whatever liquid was on the tree._

 _The moon seemed to shift places as she rested. Not too far ahead was a small pond, mossy and uncared for but still glimmered in the moonlight. The glimmer caught Mal's eye, as she'd never encountered a pond in the forest before. Slowly, she made her way closer to the edge, the moon shifting with her until it was directly on top of the pond. She peered into the water, and thanks to the moonlight, she could see her reflection._

 _Although it wasn't only her reflection she was seeing. It was three of them._

 _The middle one she was certain was her. She was wearing her trademark leather outfit, and her face was as sunken in as she imagined, dirt and blood in streaks on her cheeks. The strange liquid from the tree had indeed stained the left side of her jacket, but she was certain she could wash it off._

 _All in all, she looked terrible._

 _However, the reflection to the left made her smile. It was still her, but in her mother's robes and two black horns coming out of her head. She had a wicked glint in her glowing green eyes, just like Mal wanted._

 _Just like her mother wanted._

 _She turned to the next reflection, and stumbled back in confusion. She could barely recognise herself. her hair was longer and sleeker, in soft curly all the way down to her waist. She was wearing a dress for heaven's sake! In lilac too! It ended at her knees and seemed to be embellished with small glittering jewels, definitely not her taste._

 _There was a tiara perched in her hair, simple yet elegant and definitely not something you'd find on the Isle. There was a crest in the middle of it, yet she could not recognise it at all._

 _The scariest part? She was smiling._

 _She wasn't grinning or smirking. The reflection was actually smiling at her in happiness, a smile so pure that it could've vanquished her mother into hiding. It was enchanting, so much so that Mal couldn't stop staring at it._

 _"Choose your fate wisely," A gentle voice said, "And always remember that you have a choice."_

 _With a gasp, Mal stepped back, the reflections dissolving away as she did so. The moon was no longer illuminating the pool, leaving her in the dark once more._

 _For once in her life, she was terrified._

* * *

"Mal? Mal please wake up!"

Mal's eyes shot open as she felt something touching her hands. Green eyes met with blue, and Mal suddenly felt at peace again.

That is, until she realised that Ben was holding her hands.

"What happened?" She demanded, pulling her hands away from him, "Why are we still in here?!"

"You passed out from the heat, I think," Ben explained, shuffling backwards to give Mal more space, "And Evie and Jay are trying to open it from the other side. They went to get a teacher so I figured I'd try to wake you up again."

Mal stood up. She was a little shaky but she managed to walk over to the door, tugging at the handles until she realised something.

Ben had left the chain for the lock inside the lock, therefore locking the doors from the inside.

"You idiot," Mal muttered, unlocking the door and pulling it open, just in time to find a pair of surprised idiots on the other side.

"Nothing to see here," Mal snapped, pushing past Evie and Jay and walking towards the locker rooms, not even bothering to see Ben's starstruck expression.

By tomorrow, she'd have wrecked havoc throughout the school, and no one would know it was her.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Soooo... That happened.**_

 _ **I didn't know how else to give you guys a snapshot into Mal's life on the Isle without revealing too much, so here it is! I really hope you enjoyed! Please review the chapter with any criticisms or ideas, it always brightens up my day to see a new review :)**_

 _ **Until next time.**_


	10. Chapter 9: In ways they couldn't imagine

"Is the video ready?" Mal asked as she stormed into Doug's dormitory, Lonnie already there waiting.

"Ready to go," Doug replied unenthusiastically, gesturing to the computer, "Do what you want to do."

With a smirk, Mal walked over to the computer screen. With the same chant from the day before, she spelled the video in less that a few seconds and sent it off to upload without a second though.

"Aren't you going to check it?" Lonnie asked worriedly.

"Chaos is always a surprise," Mal answered with a smirk, "Now, if you need me I'll be in our room, but please avoid coming to look for me. I've got some reading to do."

With that, Mal made her way out of the room, wondering exactly how magnificent the chaos she'd just unleashed would be.

* * *

 _Knock. Knock_.

Mal groaned. Earlier that day she'd managed to dig up some basic magic books from the library to study through (because if she couldn't spell a prince into a frog how on earth would she send someone to sleep for a hundred years?). She'd just finished the chapter on harnessing potential magical energy when someone had decided to interrupt her reading.

With a sigh, she rolled off her bed and walked towards the door. She'd ditched her usual outfit for the day, opting for some black jeans and t-shirt for lounging. After all, evil had to look the part even in its down-time.

She opened the door to find Ben standing with a picnic basket, looking far too eager to go anywhere. He'd ditched his usual school attire, now standing in a simple pair of jeans and a blue letterman jacket, probably from the school team.

"To what do I owe the displeasure?" Mal drawled at the sight of the picnic basket.

"I was wondering if you'd be up for a picnic," He answered cheerfully, "I even brought chocolate cake."

"Haven't we spent enough time together today already?" Mal asked as she walked back towards her bed, shivering at the memory of that nightmare from when she had 'fainted'.

"Well, I actually wanted to apologise," Ben explained as he stepped into the room, "If I'd paid more attention to the locks we wouldn't have been stuck in there for that long. You could take this as an apology gift?"

Mal didn't know what possessed her in that moment, but one look at Ben's puppy dog eyes and she found herself grabbing her leather jacket and making her way out of the room.

"Fine," She finally said, "But only because I wouldn't want to see so much food go to waste."

She would've sworn she'd gotten a cavity from the sickly-sweet smile now present on Ben's face.

BREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKKKK

"Let's play twenty questions!"

"Ben, I may have spent my life surrounded by villains, but even I know not to play that game with a guy alone."

They'd walked to the Auradon Prep private forest ( _"Who even needs a private forest?"_ Mal had asked) and were currently dodging their way past multiple tree branches and leaves. The forest was much nicer than the ones on the Isle, as the trees didn't try to attack you and there was actual sunlight lighting up the paths.

"Oh come on! Favourite colour?"

"Purple, and this is stupid."

"C'mon, ask me something?"

"Were you dropped as a child?"

"No, but I was forced to grow up with Audrey, which I'd say is slightly worse."

Mal found herself snorting at Ben's comment, causing a smile to form on Ben's face. He'd take anything Mal was willing to give, whether it be a smirk or a smile.

"Is your hair naturally purple?"

"Yes, are you naturally annoying?"

Ben just laughed and shook his head, "I can't believe you're wasting your twenty questions like this."

"You're right. Where are the crown jewels?"

"Ah-ah, it's my go to ask a question this time."

Mal groaned, causing Ben to laugh as they reached a fairly empty meadow. The sun was still high in the sky, meaning they had plenty of time to do whatever was considered 'fun' here in Auradon. Ben placed the picnic blanket on the ground, setting the basket down too and stretching his arms.

"It's quite beautiful, isn't it?" Ben asked as he looked out to the meadow, "I used to come here all the time when I was little. It's kind of my special place."

"I had one of them too," Mal confessed as she sat down on the blanket, "It was a little swamp near the outskirts of the Isle, only that it was always rainy and gloomy."

"Guessing it was tough living on the Isle," Ben mused as he sat down and started unpacking the picnic basket.

"Depends on your idea of tough," Mal began, "I mean, you get used to the smell and the lack of all things healthy after a while, but yeah it was pretty terrible."

They sat in silence after that, Mal awkwardly picking at one of the sandwiches Ben had packed. Suddenly, Ben jumped up, extending his hand to Mal.

"Come with me," He said, "I want to show you something."

* * *

 _ **A/N: Honestly? I don't know what I'm doing or going with this.**_


	11. Chapter 10: Green met Blue

_Darkness. She was surrounded by it. Every inch of her skin was being engulfed in the black fog, with no way out and no one to help her._

 _"I don't want this!" She screamed into the darkness, "Please, I don't want this!"_

 _It was too late. The fog kept persevering, unstoppable and untamable. Just like she once was._

 _Not anymore._

* * *

"I'm seriously doubting your sense of direction right now."

Ben was leading her towards, well, nothing. All there was in front of them was a vast field, with the shadows of castles looming far away.

"How fast can you run?" Ben asked her with a smile.

"Pretty fast, why?"

"Tag, you're it!"

Ben started running down the field, laughing as Mal stood confused watching him run. With a smirk, she started running after him.

"Oh, its on!"

* * *

 _"Come find us Mal!"_

 _Giggling, the small purple haired six-year-old ran around the deserted marketplace, looking for her friends. Hide and seek was probably the most innocent activity that went on in the Isle, usually carried out by Mal and her friends._

 _Mal was chasing Evie, her best friend, around the deserted fruit stand. She didn't see her mother's looming figure standing behind her, but Evie did, and ran away before Mal could catch her._

 _"Evie?" Mal called confused, "Why are you leaving?"_

 _Evie was then followed by Carlos and Jay, who'd been hiding behind the clothing stall. As the trio ran away, Mal was left alone, tears streaming down her face as she recalled the horrified expression on her friends faces._

 _Meanwhile, her mother smirked, satisfied. She backed away, back into the shadows and into the comfort of her own home, ready for her daughter to come home crying and to explain how the only way to make people like her was to be evil._

 _Maleficent was happy._

* * *

"Got you!" Ben laughed as he grabbed onto Mal's shoulders after multiple failed attempts to catch her.

The two laughed as they stumbled onto the floor, probably having the most fun they'd ever had for a while. Mal didn't even realise Ben was now on top of her, also laughing to his heart's content.

When they realised what position they'd ended up in, both teenagers started blushing. Ben couldn't stop staring at Mal, hair splayed onto the grass and green eyes glimmering happily. She had a soft smile on her face, which he returned.

"Does this mean I win?" He teased, still slightly out of breath (because really, Mal could run faster than most people he'd ever encountered).

"Guess it does, but don't get used to it," Mal teased back.

For a minute, they were just two normal teenagers. Mal wasn't the daughter of a villain, and Ben wasn't the son of a king. They were just... Mal and Ben. Together.

"I have one last question for you," Ben admitted as he brushed a stray strand of hair away from Mal's face.

"Which is?" Mal asked, her breath hitching slightly as Ben held her face in his hand.

"May I kiss you?"

* * *

 _"Mal, honey, come over here a minute."_

 _Whenever her mother would use affectionate terms, Mal knew there was something important to be talked about._

 _Her mother was sat on her makeshift throne, flicking through an old diary. Maleficent was getting old, and Mal knew that someday she'd be the one to overlook the Isle of The Lost, sitting in the same chair her mother was sitting in right now._

 _"Mal darling," Maleficent began as her daughter approached, "One day, you will have to take my place as the Mistress of Evil. When that day comes, I want you to perform the Cruelty Curse exactly as written in this book."_

 _Before Mal could argue, the diary was pushed into her hands, open to a complex-looking page filled with drawings and instructions._

 _"I want you to memorise this by sundown tomorrow," Maleficent ordered, "And when the day comes, don't screw it up."_

* * *

"Are you sure you want to waste a question on that?" Mal teased.

"I've never been more certain of something in my life," Ben replied, staring into Mal's eyes.

Mal smirked, although it wasn't malicious. It was curious, nearly friendly.

"Then yes."

Green laced with blue, the perfect combination. Ben leant closer to Mal, who for the first time in her life, let herself go.

She closed her eyes, waiting. Ben's fingertips brushed against her neck, her own hands now on his shoulders. She waited, waited for the moment that-

 _Buzz._

The moment that never came.

Ben pulled his phone out of his pocket, rolling his eyes before pressing the 'Answer' icon.

"What is it Jay?"

Immediately, Mal grew bitter at the sound of Jay's name. The boy really had horrible timing.

"No, you know I don't watch them. Why?" Ben asked, "What do you mean by 'an incriminating video'?"

Mal froze. She'd completely forgotten about the video. Instantly, she moved away from Ben, standing up as he stood up with her.

"I've gotta go," Mal said before she began running towards the picnic basket and towards the school. She barely registered Ben calling her name, but she was running fast and she wasn't going to stop.

No one was worth so many emotions. Her mother had told her so countless times. She was not going to let her walls down for some prince, because she already knew the outcome; villains don't get happy endings. Her mother lost everything, as had everyone on the Isle, and she was going to get it back for them.

She had to be focused. She could not let Ben or anyone else distract her. So, with a heavy heart, she wiped away the tears that had begun falling and made her way to Jack's room.

She had chaos to control.

* * *

"Have you watched it?" Jack asked as Mal stormed into his room and towards his computer, "And why is your face wet?"

"I was washing it," Mal lied, "And no. How on earth do you use these things?!"

Jack smirked, shaking his head playfully and sitting next to Mal as he typed in the video title. The video started moments later, Mal holding her breath.

 _"I mean, she's not even that pretty!"_ Audrey exclaimed to Chad, _"I don't see why people think she's all that! She's just Maleficent's daughter!"_

"Why did you enchant the video to say that?" Jack asked.

"I didn't," Mal replied, "I enchanted another part of it."

A few moments later, the real magic began. Mal had enchanted the video, that was true, but she'd enchanted it with a truth spell.

Anything Audrey said would be her honest thoughts and feelings.

 _"Evie is my best friend and all, but she's just so dumb!"_ Audrey continues, _"Like, Chad honey, you deserve someone who's actually intelligent! And she used to be a villain! I'm all about people changing but she forgot her best friend on an island. Who does that?"_

"Damn, you're good," Jack admitted, quickly quietened down by Mal.

 _"And Ben, he's clearly the one I'm meant to be with!"_ Audrey continued _, "I mean, he's the king and I'm a princess! We're meant to be, but I like someone else..."_

Mal and Jack leant closer to the screen, holding their breath.

 _"I like Jay."_


	12. Chapter 11: But Green didn't know love

Mal was avoiding Ben like the plague.

It had been two weeks since the near-kiss, and two weeks since the fake video of Audrey was posted. Since then, a lot of things had changed.

Although Lonnie's video got a significantly larger amount of views than her previous ones, Lonnie had decided to stop posting videos for a while. The Audrey video had sparked some people's interests, however Audrey denied everything and claimed the person had changed the dialogue. Of course, Audrey being Audrey, everyone believed her.

Carlos, Jay and Evie had decided to leave Mal alone for the most part, however all approached her separately at least once. Evie was the most persistent, approaching her after any class they shared with false promises, such as "You'll be happier!" and "It's a lot more fun being nice!". She'd even brought a fruit basket once, which Mal immediately set on fire without a second glance.

Jay was thankfully less persistent. He invited her to future tourney matches and after-parties, all of which she declined immediately. He was far too immersed in his world to pay attention to Mal much, so by the second week he'd stopped completely.

Carlos was the only one that sparked Mal's attention. He only approached her once, unafraid in front of the whole cafeteria. He asked her if she'd like to study with him, to which she found hard to say no to. Carlos had always been a little brother to her, but she could not forgive them so easily. So, after a momentary lapse of common sense, she said no.

Mal became icier by the day, so much so that even Jack was concerned. Whenever he'd come find her for help to pull a prank, she'd be studying spell books or enchanting things in her room. She'd started a new spell book, very similar to her mother's in design. It was completely covered in black leather, a menacing dragon on the cover. The spells in the book were nothing less than evil, and Mal found it to be her greatest achievement.

Lonnie was also growing concerned for Mal. Every time she'd wake up for a midnight snack, Mal would be reading one of the spell books or writing in her own. She wasn't scared to admit that she'd grown fond of the purple-haired villain, but she'd never say it to her face.

Ben was probably the most concerned out of everyone. He'd tried to catch her between classes and even at her room, but it was as if she'd disappear as soon as he thought of her (which was quite accurate considering Mal had now mastered the vanishing spell).

Everything changed when she ran into Carlos on the way to her room.

Usually, she'd either avoid her room completely or go there straight away, but she decided to take her time today. It was a surprisingly gloomy day for Auradon, with cloudy skies and damp grounds. She decided to take a walk around the school, primarily to soak in the moodiness of the day. It was meant to be a relaxing day of studying magic.

"Now, listen here shorty."

Or not.

"I was the chemistry homework on my desk in my room by tomorrow, is that clear?"

Mal's eyes widened. In the few weeks she'd been in Auradon Prep she'd never seen or heard of any sort of bullying. For a moment, Mal had hope that there was someone else like her, who enjoyed seeing the fear in other people's eyes.

"I-I'm not doing your homework anymore Chad!"

Or not.

After getting over the initial shock of Chad's name, Mal realised who the voice belonged to.

Carlos.

She stepped forwards to find the two boys arguing behind a tree, however Carlos seemed to be curling into himself, pressing his back into the tree as if trying to hide. Chad seemed to get angrier by the second, and without a second thought, Mal pushed her hand forwards and used her magic.

In seconds, the once stunning Prince Chad Charming had been turned into a toad, of course with the typical need-to-be-kissed-by-a-princess deal breaker. Carlos looked confused to say the least, but seemed relieved when he spotted Mal.

"Thanks, M," Carlos said as Mal reluctantly picked the slimy toad up, "I really appreciate-"

"This doesn't change anything," Mal cut in, "I don't forgive any of you. You owe me one."

With that, Mal walked away, glaring down at the toad in her hands. She didn't see the smirk on Carlos' face, nor Ben's face watching the whole thing from the second floor library.

* * *

"Now lets get one thing straight, Charming," Mal began as she walked towards Evie's room, "From now on, you bully _no one_ without my explicit permission. I understand that your brain is the size of a blueberry, but surely you can keep a few things in that thick skull of yours."

By the end of her little speech, Mal was knocking on Evie's door urgently, desperate to disinfect her hands. A few moments later, Evie opened the door, looking more than happy to see Mal on the other side.

"Mal! To what do I owe this-"

"I turned your boyfriend into a toad," Mal replied bluntly as she handed over the toad, "You may want to get some chapstick action on."

With that, she turned around and stalked down the corridor.

She still had time to finish writing up a few spells, maybe even try a new one out. She had yet to brew anything either, maybe she could sneak down to the kitchen and-

"Mal!"

Mal spun around to find Ben looking around the corridors for her. He had yet to spot her, so she quickly cast an invisibility spell onto herself. He walked down the corridor towards her, so she moved against the wall, holding her breath as he stood near her.

"I know you're using an invisibility spell," Ben began, "But I know you can hear me, so please listen.

"You don't have to be like your mother. She's stuck on that Isle, but you're free. I care about you Mal, more than I thought I ever would, and I don't want to see you ending up like your mother. You have a whole life to live ahead of you, so please, at least consider other options."

With that, Ben began walking away. Mal stood there for what felt like hours, even after he left. Eventually, she made her way back to her room, considering everything he'd said.

He said he cared about her, but so had Jay, Evie and Carlos. They left her, _abandoned_ her, for over four months. Her mother was right, she _had_ to be. Emotions were wasted time if they weren't negative or spiteful.

So, as she entered her room, she spotted the one item she hadn't touched in months. Her staff, glittering in the light of the unnecessary chandelier in the room. She was too afraid to touch it, if she was being honest, because with all her new power she had no clue what she could do.

However, in that moment, she didn't care. She grabbed the staff, and immediately watched it transform. It was turning black, the purple paint peeling away with it. The broken glass turned into a real purple gemstone at the top, wrapped in black thorny twigs. The gemstone was glowing brightly, and Mal could feel her energy connecting with it.

With her other hand, she reached for a piece of paper she'd kept tucked deep inside her spellbook. A curse she'd memorised over a year ago, something so destructive that not even the purest soul could vanquish.

The Cruelty Curse.

* * *

 _ **A/N: So a little authors note;**_

 _ **-Ben's admitted his feelings for Mal, but Mal still hasn't realised she even has feelings, so BENxMAL may proceed slowly for a while, but it WILL happen.**_

 _ **-I feel like I haven't written enough from Evie, Jay and Carlos' points of view, so expect a chapter on their experiences in Auradon soon.**_

 _ **-MALxJACK most likely won't be happening (sorry), but there will be someone joining the story soon that will be perfect for Jack ;)**_

 _ **-Wonder what Jane's been up to... ;)**_

 ** _-Should I add the characters from Wicked World into this story?_**

 ** _Please favourite and share this story! It means a lot to me whenever someone new takes time out of their day to read my stories, and please feel free to leave a review with anything you think! Whether it be a criticism or a suggestion, I want to make this story enjoyable for you, the readers, and hearing your opinions always helps me with that._**

 ** _Until next time!_**


	13. Chapter 12: So Green ran away

"Stalking isn't very attractive."

Jack jumped backwards to the sound of Mal's voice. She was standing behind him, watching him peer around the corner to watch a certain girl put her books in her locker.

"Scaring people isn't very attractive either but here you are," Jack retorted.

"You like her."

"I do not!"

"You're blushing."

Jack turned away from Mal, "I am not!"

"She likes you too."

"How would you know that?"

"Because she's coming over right now."

Jack shrieked, turning around to see the blonde girl approaching them. Mal smirked, pushing him forwards towards her.

"H-Hey Jack," She stuttered, "How are you?"

Mal rolled her eyes as the two started a rather awkward conversation, and by the time they'd actually gotten past the greetings Mal was already bored. She started walking away, smirking at the similarities between the two.

As hard as Jack had tried to hide it, Mal knew he had ice powers like his father. She figured it out a few weeks ago, when Jack had tried to bribe her to come out of her room with a slushie, and although she had no clue what that was, she knew that there was no such thing in the school.

The ironic thing was that although both Jack and his crush possessed ice powers, neither were aware of the others abilities. The girl, Elsa, had accidentally frozen her own sister's hands to a table once in the cafeteria, and although no one else had spotted them, Mal had. In a way, Jack and Elsa were perfect for each other.

That is, if they ever stopped stuttering to each other.

Making a mental note to research confidence potions later on, Mal made her way to her room, her spell book held tightly against her chest. She brought it with her everywhere, because she knew that if anyone were to read her notes on the Cruelty Curse, she'd be sent straight back to the Isle.

She only needed a few more ingredients to perform the curse, some of which she was planning on getting in the following weeks. It was possibly one of the most complex curses to cast, alongside the Sleeping Curse, which she was planning on casting as well.

The actual brewing of the potions was probably the hardest part of the two curses. Both took a full lunar phase to fully mature, meaning that she'd have to wait a full month after having finished the potions to even use them. That would be a flaw in her plan, as she really did not want to stay in Auradon for more than she had to.

 _"Don't you want to be evil like me..."_ She hummed as she walked down the corridor towards her room, _"...Don't you wanna be cruel?"_

"Mal!" Carlos exclaimed as he came running down the corridor, "I need your help!"

"What don't you get from 'leave me alone?'" Mal asked with a glare, "What do you want?"

"Dude is stuck on a tree and I can't get him down!" Carlos explained, "Please Mal, no one else will help!"

With an eye roll, she followed Carlos out into the courtyard where thankfully, no one was around. Dude was indeed stuck on a tree, too high for Mal or Carlos to reach. She didn't know any spells that would get him down safely, so she only had one option.

"Don't open it," Mal ordered as she handed her spellbook over to Carlos, "And don't even think about telling anyone this happened."

With a sigh, she started climbing the tree, secretly thankful for the opportunity to practice her training for the first time in Auradon.

However, she didn't spot Jane coming out behind a tree nearby, nor did she spot her conjuring an identical copy of Mal's spellbook and Carlos swapping it with her real one, and she most definitely did not notice Jane walking away with her spellbook as she climbed up another branch.

"Mission accomplished," Carlos whispered into his phone, watching Mal make her way towards Dude.

* * *

"Got it," Jane exclaimed triumphantly as she entered Jay and Carlos' room, receiving a high-five from Jay, "We need to hurry before she notices it's gone."

"Never thought I'd say this, but I'm so glad one of my best friends is a fairy godmother in training," Lonnie said as Evie started flicking through the book.

"Now M, lets see what you've been up to..." Evie mumbled as the others stood around her, anxiously waiting.

Lonnie and Evie had the idea first; they'd seen how tightly Mal would hold onto the spell book, and fearing the worst, they gathered a small group of people to investigate. Carlos and Jay had the idea of using Dude as a distraction, then enlisting Jane to steal the book. Doug and Ben were there too, the latter tapping his foot impatiently as Evie flicked through the book.

"Oh no..." Evie muttered in shock, "She's planning on using the Cruelty Curse."

Jay froze in shock, "She wouldn't... Would she?"

 _"Guys, she's on her way back to her room!"_ Carlos' voice exclaimed through Doug's phone, _"You need to distract her!"_

"The Cruelty Curse was created hundreds of years ago," Evie explained, "The only person evil enough to cast it was Maleficent."

"What does it do?" Jane asked, "I mean, it can't be too bad if-"

"Guys!"

"I'll go distract her," Ben volunteered, already halfway out of the door, "Find out as much as you can about the curse."

With that, he was halfway down the corridor, hurrying towards Mal's room.

"So, what does it do?" Doug asked as Evie re-read the page.

"It turns your heart to stone."

* * *

"Stupid dog hair," Mal muttered as she tried to wipe away the hairs on her jacket, "This is the last time I rescue an animal for anyone."

"Mal!"

Mal spun around just as she was about to open her bedroom door to find Ben hurrying towards her, out of breath and panting.

"Ben?" Mal asked confused as she gripped onto the door handle, "Why are you-"

"Cookies!" Ben blurted out, "I was wondering if you'd like to make cookies!"

"And why would you think that?" Mal narrowed her eyes, slowly letting her grip on the door handle loosen.

"Well, I figured that if we gave them out, people would want to get to know you."

"I'm not interested in caring about people," Mal snapped, "Now, if you don't mind-"

"I just want to spend some more time with you," Ben admitted, "I mean, I figured I came on pretty strong the other week, and I wanted to make up for it."

Mal hesitated. She was just about to finish writing up the Cruelty Curse and prepare for the Sleeping Curse, but then again, maybe making cookies wasn't too bad of an idea.

"Alright, lead the way."

* * *

 ** _A/N: ...So yeah._**


	14. Chapter 13: And never looked back

"So let me get this straight," Carlos began, "Mal is going to cast a curse onto herself so she can't feel emotions anymore... Why?"

"Because then she wont feel guilt when she casts the other curses," Evie explained as she flipped through the pages in the book, "She has dozens of them in here! Ooh, an anti-aging potion..."

"When Maleficent cast the Cruelty Curse she lost her wings," Jay explained, "Her heart turned cold and she began her reign of terror."

"Mal's trying to become her mother," Doug realised, "Evie, what do you need to cast the curse?"

"Let me see..." She trailed off as she tried to find the page, "Thorns from a rosebush, tear from a princess... They're all pretty basic ingredients apart from this last one."

"Which is?" Lonnie asked, watching as Evie's face paled.

"A broken heart."

* * *

"Have you ever made cookies before?" Ben asked as he pulled out a bag of flour from a cupboard in the kitchen.

"My childhood wasn't exactly cookies and milk," Mal replied as she sat on the counter swinging her legs.

"Really? Then what did you do in your spare time?" Ben asked, finding the bag of chocolate chips.

"My favourite toy was barbed wire," Mal retorted, confused at the sight of the chocolate chips, "Hey, what are those?"

"These are just the most important ingredient in any recipe, apart from maybe pasta," Ben explained, "Have you never tried chocolate chips?"

"I've never seen them either," Mal replied as Ben stood in front of her.

"Stick your tongue out," Ben commanded, pulling a chocolate chip out of the bag.

Mal hesitantly stuck her tongue out, pulling it back in when Ben put the chocolate chip on her tongue. She chewed on it, and her eyes instantly lit up.

"How many can we put in the cookies?" She asked, suddenly feeling like an excited ten year-old.

Ben laughed, "As many as you want, and I have a feeling that means all of them."

* * *

"Whose heart do you think she's going to break?" Lonnie asked as they all sat in a circle around the book.

"I really don't know, but she's dangerous," Jane replied, eyes wide in fear as she looked at the book.

"No, she's not," Evie argued, "Its our fault she's like this. If we hadn't left her on the Isle maybe she'd be different. If we hadn't left her alone with her mother..."

"It's not our fault E," Jay tried to comfort her, but Evie stood up, anger and hurt evident on her face.

"No, it is," Evie continued, "We _knew_ what her mother was like, and she spent four months alone with her because we were too blinded to remember her. It's our fault she feels so alone that she feels the need to use this curse on herself."

Everyone sat in silence for a while, Evie still standing with tears crawling down her face. She suddenly started walking for the door, stopping just to look behind her shoulder.

"I'm going to go find Chad, I'll be back soon," Evie said, and with a small smile she was gone.

"What do you think her mother made her do that turned her so cold?" Carlos suddenly asked, "I mean sure, we were all villains on the Isle, but she had a pep in her step that no one could extinguish. However now... She's just cold."

"The only person who'd know anything is Jack Frost," Lonnie admitted, "She spends most of her time with him. I have his number if you want to call him up here?"

They all looked at each other, silently questioning if it would be a good idea. Finally, Jay nodded.

"Call the ice cube up."

* * *

Evie wiped her tears away as she knocked on Chad's room. She could hear him frantically scrambling around the room and saying something, finally opening the door nearly a minute later.

"Babe! What are you doing here?" Chad asked confused as Evie walked into the room, ignoring the expression on his face.

"I'm just a little upset and I needed to see you," Evie explained, sitting down on his bed with a huff, "Mal's just... She's so different."

"That's because she's a villain babe," Chad replied simply, "And right now really isn't a good time to talk. How about I text you tomorrow morning?"

"I know you're cheating on me."

Chad's face morphed into shock as Evie stared down at the floor, her hands in fists on her lap.

"Contrary to what most people think, I'm not stupid," She continued, "I know you're only dating me for your image, to show people that you can change me from a villain into a hero. I know you've been cheating on me this whole time on girls who are willing to do your homework, but if I've learnt anything from living on the Isle is that I need to stand up for myself."

Evie stood up, meeting Chad's shocked eyes.

"So Chad Charming, you've officially been dumped."

With that, Evie left the room, a small grin on her face as she left Chad standing in the middle of the empty room in shock.

* * *

"So how long do these take again?" Mal asked as she peered into the oven with wide-eyes.

"About thirty minutes," Ben replied as he rolled his sleeves up, "We should probably tidy the kitchen up."

Mal would never openly admit it, but she'd actually enjoyed spending time with Ben in that kitchen. For that short amount of time, she'd completely forgotten about the Isle and her mother and the curses. She could just be Mal, who liked chocolate chips and strawberries.

"Hey Ben," Mal began as she grabbed a handful of flour, "You have something on your face."

"Wha-" Before he could finish, Mal threw her handful of flour straight to his face.

She laughed as he wiped his face, only that it wasn't a menacing laugh as usual. It was genuine happiness, so with a grin, he threw flour straight back at her.

"Oh, its on."

* * *

"What did I miss?" Evie asked as she walked back into the room, sitting between Carlos and Jay, opposite Jack.

"We're still trying to figure out who's heart she's planning to break," Lonnie explained.

"I think I know," Jack confessed, "Where is Ben?"

"He left to distract her while we went through her spell book," Jane explained, suddenly freezing, "Do you think she's planning on breaking Ben's heart?"

"I don't think she would..." Lonnie replied unsurely, "Would she?"

"Either way, we need to get the spell book back to her before she realises its gone," Jay said as he stood up, "Jane, Carlos and Evie follow me. Jack, Lonnie and Doug, find out if theres a counter spell to the Cruelty Curse."

"Yes sir," Jack replied with a mock salute, grabbing the nearest spell book they'd retrieved from the library minutes before.

As the trio began looking through the spell books, Jane, Carlos, Jay and Evie made their way down to the kitchens, hoping that Ben was still keeping her entertained.

* * *

Laughter resounded throughout the kitchen as the two teenagers kept throwing flour at each other. Both were covered head-to-toe in the white powder, save for the few spots they'd both missed. Mal had managed to pour half a bag of flour onto his head before he'd pinned her against the counter, dusting the rest of the bag of flour all over her.

"Okay okay, you win!" Mal laughed as she shook the powder out of her hair, "Just please stop before my hair turns white."

"Think we're a little late for that," Ben teased as he held a strand of her now white hair in front of her eyes.

Mal blew onto the strand, sending a puff of white smoke into Ben's face. She laughed as he scrunched his eyes shut, shaking his head as powder went flying around the room.

They both then paused, the laughter dying down. Green eyes met blue once again, and Mal felt a pleasant prick of warmth travel through her body. Her heart started beating fast as she registered just how close to each other they were, and little did she know that the same was happening to Ben.

"A few weeks ago I asked if I could kiss you, and you said yes," Ben began as his eyes focused on her, "Can I kiss you now?"

It took a moment to process, but Mal found herself nodding. Slowly, he leant closer, but Mal kept her eyes open, staring into his.

This time, she knew how easily things could be ripped away from her, so she stayed alert even when one of his hands held hers and the other cupped her face. She was about to close her eyes when she spotted her spell book, her real spell book, floating in midair into the room.

She immediately pushed Ben away, grabbing the spellbook just as it began falling towards the floor. Jane, Carlos, Evie and Jay came crashing onto each other and into the room, revealing their hiding place to a very angry Mal.

"So this was all a trick?" Mal asked as she looked at Ben with a heartbroken expression, "You were distracting me so you could steal the spellbook?"

"Mal, it's not what it looks-" Ben began, but before he could finish, Mal ran out of the room.

* * *

Mal slammed the door shut behind her, locking it with a spell before sinking down to her knees, head against the door as she took a deep breath. She'd let herself feel for Ben, actually care about him, and it had all been fake. Ben didn't care about her; all he cared about was his kingdom and keeping it safe.

A few people attempted trying to get into Mal's room over the course of the hours she locked herself in, however she moved for no one, not even when Lonnie tried to get into her own room. She'd been holding herself back in Auradon, actually _caring_ about people, but that all ended tonight.

She finally stood up, grabbing her mother's spellbook and turning to the pages with the most difficult spells. There was one she'd considered trying, but was too afraid that she'd drain her energy out even attempting it.

Not anymore.

She held the spellbook in front of her as she closed her eyes, focusing all her energy on the one spell. She used the anger and the hurt caused from the people in Auradon and finally, with a deep breath, she cast the spell.

 _"I invoke the spirit of Maleficent."_

Nothing happened for a moment. Mal felt discouraged, until a bright light shone from the dragon on the front of the book. The light expanded, causing Mal to drop the book on the floor and cover her eyes. After the light had faded, she reopened them, coming face to face with the last person she thought she'd ever see in this room.

"I was wondering when you'd use that," Maleficent smiled evilly, "How's it going, kiddo?"

At least now she didn't need to break anyone elses heart, hers was sufficiently damaged on its own.

* * *

 _ **A/N: So... Things are gonna go down soon.**_


	15. Chapter 14: Things Started Going Wrong

Although Mal spent several nights altering the spell, she could never actually teleport Maleficent into Auradon. However, she could still communicate with her.

The Summoning spell took quite a bit of energy to achieve, so it wasn't unusual for Mal to find herself out of breath once her mother's spirit had left. The first time she'd terminated the spell, she'd found herself passed out for at least three hours. Over the course of a week, she'd managed to master the conjuring and terminating of the spell to some extent.

She'd completely avoided everyone and anyone during that week, including Jack. She'd spelled all of Lonnie's possessions into Audrey and Evie's room, along with her bed, and kept a magical barrier around the room at all times so that only she could enter. She attended her classes and did her homework, making sure Fairy Godmother didn't suspect a thing, but never left her room apart from that.

One thing she couldn't escape, however, were Audrey's daily after school email updates. Every single person in Auradon prep received them, and on a particularly bad day had sent out a mass email with a petition to prohibit Audrey from even accessing a computer again. It got twenty signatures.

Today's email talked about the importance of everyone showing up at the pep rallies and the importance of 'recycling', whatever that was. However, one thing caught Mal's eye. In bright bold pink letters was the main focus of the email.

'AURADON PREP: WINTER FORMAL IN THREE WEEKS'

Mal's interest was perked immediately. In three weeks, the curses would be ready to enact, and her plan would be put into action. It would be ridiculously easy to use the sleeping curse on Aurdey then and there, and even easier to then overtake the school and eventually Auradon once she was taken care of.

She'd get revenge on Sleeping Beauty's family. For her mother.

* * *

"I want to ask Mal to the winter formal."

All eyes turned to Carlos, who sat at the end of the lunch table with Jane and Doug on either side of him.

"Carlos!" Jane hissed, "Keep it down!"

"Dude, do you have a death wish?" Doug asked completely seriously, "I mean its Mal. Last time you saw her she wanted to skin you alive."

"She hasn't always been like this," Carlos replied, "I mean, on the Isle she was pretty bad, but never to this extent. If I don't do it then no one will."

"What about Ben?" Jane asked.

"She wants his head on a stake because she thinks he was playing with her feelings, remember?"

"I thought she wanted everyone's heads on a stake?"

"Yeah, but Ben's especially."

"Ben hasn't been doing so well," Doug admitted, "He's been acting like a kicked puppy all week, and apparently he hasn't shown up to tourney practice either."

"That's true," Jay chipped in as he and Evie sat next to Doug, "He's been pretending that he's fine when all he does is mope around his room. We need to do something."

"I think I have an idea," Jane admitted, "What about a love potion?"

"Isn't that probably illegal?" Carlos asked warily.

"Well, it won't be a completely love-inducing potion," Jane explained, "It's a potion to make someone confess their true feelings for someone else, but it takes three weeks to prepare. If we use it on Ben and Mal while they're in the same room..."

"The Winter Formal!" Evie exclaimed, "It's in three weeks! All we have to do it convince Mal to be there and make them both drink the potion!"

"And how do you expect to do that?" Carlos asked, "Its not like she'll talk to any of us!"

"I have my ways," Evie smirked, standing up and walking away.

She may have gone good, but there was still a little evil inside her.

* * *

Over the few days Mal had spent locked inside her room, she'd managed to sneak out hours past meal times to grab something to eat from the kitchens. Every time she walked into the room, she got shivers as she recalled the events that had taken place there not long ago.

Her go-to meal now was a mushed up mix of cream, cherries, strawberries and blueberries, topped with whatever syrup she could find. It was sweet, unlike her, and maybe that's why she liked it so much. She walked back into her room around midnight, the bowl of cream in her hand whilst she spooned some into her mouth.

"Where have you been?!"

Mal jumped at the shrill sound of her mother's voice, nearly dropping the bowl. She looked up to see her mother standing in the middle of the room, still in her projected form thankfully.

"Mother?" Mal asked tentatively, "I didn't think I summoned you."

"I summoned myself silly," Maleficent replied, gesturing to the bowl in her hand, "You have no time for things like that! If you want to be as evil and awful and cruel as I am, you need to focus!"

"You're right, sorry mother," Mal said, defeated as she dumped the bowl in the trashcan, her stomach rumbling in protest.

"Now, back onto important things..."

Little did they know that someone was patiently listening outside the door, their face shadowed by the night sky.

* * *

 _ **A/N: I am so sorry for the late update and short chapter, I've had quite a stressful week with exams, deadlines etc...**_

 _ **Anyways, I have just started up yet another BENxMal story, "Into The Woods". Of course I'm going to keep updating this fanfiction, however I'm planning on making the chapters for my new story a lot longer as the story will be a lot more detailed.**_

 _ **Please leave a review if you have any suggestions or comments. Thank you and until next time!**_


	16. Chapter 15: Everything Turned Dark

It was the morning of the winter formal.

Three weeks had passed in a blur. At some point, Mal had lost the concept of time, working hard to please her mother. She'd spend all her time working towards the ultimate goal; revenge. She barely ever left her room anymore, the classes she missed passing her mind completely. She'd even cast a forgetfulness spell on her door. Anyone who touched the door would instantly forget how or why they got there, or who lay behind the bedroom door. Hence, why she'd barely spoken to anyone in those three weeks.

Her mother was growing stronger every day. She no longer needed to summon her; she'd summon herself. Maleficent seemed oddly patient and calm about the winter formal being just a few hours away, but Mal couldn't find it in herself to care. She needed to get revenge for herself and for her mother, and thats all she could think about.

However, there was one exception.

In the rare moments without her mother, before she fell asleep, there was one person on her mind; Ben. With his puppy-dog eyes and cute expression, Mal couldn't push him out of her head. He was constantly there, a reminder of what could've been and will never be.

But the curses were finished. The needle for the sleeping curse was ready, resting on Mal's vanity carefully where she was sat. In a few hours, she'd enact the plan her mother had given her, ending Auradon once and for all.

As Mal stared at herself through the mirror, she took in her features. Her hair had been freshly washed, but no amount of soap or scrubbing could remove the tired expression on her features. Her cheeks were slightly hollow and her eyes no longer held the glimmer of hope and excitement they once did.

She was a shell of her older self, and as she applied layer over layer of makeup and did her hair, she found herself wishing she could share these precious teenage moments with someone. She wished Evie was here, forcing her to do her makeup and giggling with her about their dates. She wished Jay and Carlos were here, bickering like they always would. She wished Jack was here to crack jokes with her, or even Lonnie with her annoyingly peppy personality.

And deep down, she wished Ben was here, ready to escort her as his date.

As she finished applying the last coat of mascara on her lashes, she stood up and walked towards her floor-length mirror, and could barely contain the gasp of shock as she saw herself.

She'd left her hair loose, curls tumbling over her shoulders, adorned with the occasional lilac flower. The dress she'd summoned was lilac in colour, short at the front and long at the back. Fake flowers and lace flower patterns were embellished from the bottom of the skirt going up, fewer and fewer present as they reached her waist. The bodice of the dress was completely plain, accentuating the flowers on the skirt. The top of the dress was off-shoulder, leaving her pale shoulders bare.

She also wore heels resembling the shoes of a ballerina, also lilac with lace going up to her knees and tied in a neat knot. Her makeup was simple, yet her lips were accentuated by the bold red lipstick she picked. Overall, she looked like a princess.

"Quite beautiful Mal, well done."

Mal turned around to see her mother looking at her with a pleased expression on her face. However, instead of being surrounded with the summoning aura, she was standing in the middle of the room normally.

As if she was _really_ there.

"Tonight's the big night," Mal replied with a nervous smile on her face.

"It really is my dear," Maleficent replied wickedly as she stepped closer, raising her hand to Mal's shoulder, "But sadly, it's not what you really want."

The moment Maleficent's hand came in contact with Mal's skin, Mal felt searing pain shoot throughout her body. Emotions were flooding through her brain, leaving her weak. She fell to her knees on the floor, a few minutes passing by before she'd calmed down, too weak to get back on her feet.

"You see my dear," Maleficent started as she knelt down to Mal's level, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at her, "When Carlos managed to make a hole in the barrier on the Isle for a few moments, it let in enough magic for me to being my master plan. The perfect opportunity presented itself when Evie, Carlos and Jay left, leaving you all alone and _weak_.

"You see, I've been manipulating you and your emotions this whole time darling. I made you feel rage and anger and hurt, making you work harder to become like me. And the more you worked to become evil, the weaker you became. I began absorbing your magic, little by little, until your friends decided to come back and get you. Now, we couldn't have that interfering, so I decided to plant a little idea in your head before you left.

"I gave you the spell book knowing exactly what it would do to you. The more you practiced those spells, the weaker you became, allowing me to continue to manipulate you on the Isle and transferring magic to me through the book. When you summoned me, I knew it was only a matter of time until I grew strong enough to teleport here completely. And here I am."

Maleficent let go of Mal's chin, walking around the room waiting for Mal to get up. Maleficent's daughter was a fighter until the very end, clear from how she gripped the bed frame as she pulled herself back on her feet.

"W-Why are you doing this mother?" Mal asked weakly, "Why do this to everyone?"

"Because now I can do this."

Maleficent turned to look at her daughter with the sleeping curse needle in her hand, approaching Mal and grabbing her hand. Mal tried to fight against it, but she had little to no strength left in her.

"Say goodbye to your little Prince," Maleficent smirked wickedly before pricking Mal's finger with the needle.

Everything turned dark.

* * *

 _ **A/N: VERY SHORT CHAPTER I'M SORRY! AND I'M ALSO INCREDIBLY SORRY FOR BEING GONE SO LONG!**_

 _ **I've literally just finished my exams and haven't had time to write a lot, but from now on I'm going to try my hardest to update all my fics regularly, and even publish a few new ones ;) I've had so many ideas bustling through my head that I haven't been able to write and I'm so glad to finally be able to get back on track!**_

 _ **Again, I apologise for the extremely long delay, but I will not be leaving any story unfinished. Please leave a review if you have any suggestions or tips about the story, because I may or may not be releasing a sequel ;)**_

 _ **Until next time!**_


	17. Chapter 16: And Evil Rose Again

Jack Frost was not a quitter.

He'd spent the last three weeks working towards getting Mal back to normal after listening in to a conversation with her mother, but nothing seemed to work. He'd tried everything to break into the room or communicate with Mal, but nothing. There was only an hour left until the start of the Winter Formal. So, with a deep sigh, he made his way to Evie's room, dressed in his suit for the formal. Using the last glimmer of hope he had, he knocked on the door.

Needless to say, he was surprised when the door opened by itself, and even more surprised at the sight in front of him.

Evie was holding two vials of potion in her hand, a third smashed on the floor. He assumed it was a love potion by the way Audrey and Jay were furiously making out on the floor, Carlos desperately trying to split them up as Lonnie laughed on the bed.

"Why did you-" Jack began asking, but before he could finish Jane pulled him into the room, closing the door behind him.

"We've been trying to make potions for Ben and Mal to confess their feelings, but it hasn't really worked out that well," Jane explained, gesturing to the mess in front of them.

Evie groaned, setting the potion bottles down and falling back onto her bed, "I give up!"

"We don't even know if Mal is going tonight either," Carlos added as he continued to try to split Audrey and Jay, "Can anyone help me here?!"

"Oh will you all just shut up about Mal?!" Audrey exclaimed as she stood up, Jay following behind her, "It's clear she wants to be a villain, and we're all heroes, so we need to man up and do what heroes do; defeat the villains. Come on Jay."

Audrey grabbed Jay's collar and began dragging him out of the room, Jay complying as he was still under the love potion. Everyone looked around in shock, until Jane piped up.

"Maybe Audrey is right," She said, "Maybe Mal doesn't want to be saved."

* * *

The Winter Formal was in full swing by the time Jack and the others had arrived. The cafeteria had been enchanted to look like a ballroom, with fake icicles on the windows and white marble floors. There were canopies of white winter flowers draping from the ceiling, and a chandelier with floating candles illuminating the room. It was truly a winter paradise.

However, not everyone was enjoying the celebrations.

Ben was sat at an empty table alone as people danced in front of him in the middle of the room. For the past three weeks, an emptiness had settled inside him without Mal, as if her isolation had taken away a piece of him. Okay, he may have been slightly in love with her, but that didn't change the fact that something just didn't feel right.

The celebration continued smoothly for another hour until Evie spotted Ben, slouching in all his loneliness. With a sigh, she walked towards him and extended her hand out to him.

"Come on Grumpy," She teased, "You can't sit there forever."

Ben hesitantly looked at Evie's hand, but with a surge of confidence Evie pulled him to his feet and onto the dancefloor, joining their friends on the dancefloor.

The group was enjoying themselves before the music slowly stopped. They looked around, only to spot Fairy Godmother at the front of the room on the stage, a microphone in hand as the other teachers stood behind her.

"Welcome everyone to Auradon Prep's Winter Formal!" She began, cheers erupting from the crowd, "I'd like to take a moment to remind you all that this is a school and therefore we expect you to conduct yourselves in an orderly-"

Before she could finish, the ground started shaking violently. A few people fell over from the shock, screams echoing through the room. People grabbed onto whoever or whatever they could, moving to the edges of the room as they searched for safety.

Suddenly, the shaking stopped. Dark purple mist began filling the now empty dancefloor, making people cough and cover their eyes in its wake. However, when it faded away, they were left with a shocking image.

Mal was lying on a bed of flowers, still in her outfit for the formal. She was encased in a crystal coffin, peacefully asleep and blissfully unaware of everyone around her. Ben immediately started walking towards her, but Maleficent instantly appeared above the coffin, thunder resounding throughout the room.

"Well, isn't this just cute," Maleficent cackled, people screaming around her. With a flick of her wrist, all the doors closed, preventing anyone from leaving the room.

"Now, before you all get too rowdy, I'd like you all to look at my daughter Mal here," Maleficent began, "You all thought she was a threat, but none of you were smart enough to figure out exactly what or who the threat was. Me!"

Fairy Godmother instantly stepped forwards, but Maleficent lifted an invisible barrier around her and Mal, preventing anyone from approaching.

"Now, if you know whats better for yourselves you're going to listen," Maleficent snapped at the crowd, "As I was saying-"

Before Maleficent could continue, a ball of electric blue light blasted towards her, followed by several others. Maleficent was soon shot down by Jane, the magic barrier down. Fairy Godmother took the opportunity to trap her, summoning magical cuffs on her wrists.

"Let me go!" Maleficent howled as she furiously thrashed on the floor.

Soon enough, two royal guards grabbed Maleficent by the arms and began dragging her out of the room, presumably to the dungeons. She fought for release and thrashed around until she was out of sight of the Winter Formal. Fairy Godmother wiped her brow in relief, watching sadly as Ben and his friends dashed towards Mal's casket.

They circled around the coffin, the room quiet as Fairy Godmother approached them.

"Is she dead?" Carlos asked with a worry-stricken face, tears already forming in his eyes, "She can't be dead. Please tell me shes not dead."

"She's not dear," Fairy Godmother reassured him as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "She's just sleeping. Maleficent probably used the sleeping curse on her."

"On her own daughter?!" Jack exclaimed.

"I'm afraid the only way to wake her is an act of true love, but true love needs to be reciprocated for this to work," Fairy Godmother informed them sadly.

"No," Ben replied with glassy eyes, "There has to be another way. I'm not going to give up on her."

Fairy Godmother smiled at him sadly before gesturing to one of the guards to come over, "Please, take the girl to the tower. We need to keep her safe."

Little did any of them know that Mal was fighting her way out already.


	18. Chapter 17: But The Light Found Its Way

_When Mal fell under the sleeping curse, the last thing she expected was to wake up in the middle of a forest._

 _She slowly sat up on the bed of flowers she'd been laid on, looking around her. The first thing she realised was that she was definitely not in Auradon, and she knew this by the weird colour of the trees. They were all dark purple, with lilac leaves and lilac grass surrounding the trunk._

 _Mal slowly got to her feet and began walking to try and find something or someone. She really didn't want to be alone after the whole ordeal with her mother._

 _She knew she was under the sleeping curse, and that only an act of true love could wake her, so she knew she'd be here a while. Her mother had prevented her from falling in love with anyone, so she knew for a fact that she wouldn't be much help in the whole love ordeal._

 _After what felt like hours, Mal spotted something in the distance, something that looked like a house. She began running towards it, realising soon that it wasn't just a house. It was a village, with real people walking around and talking to each other._

 _As she neared the village, some people started to notice her, and Mal finally noticed that everything in this world had a purple hue, something that creepily reminded her of her mother. Nevertheless, she was in the middle of the village before someone stopped her._

 _"Woah woah woah," the girl exclaimed as she stopped Mal, "Where do you think you're going?"_

 _"What is this place?" Mal asked breathless as more people approached her, "Who are you all?"_

 _"Welcome to our little Wonderland," the girl joked, "This is where people who fall under the Sleeping Curse end up, or at least their spirit. I'm Alice."_

* * *

The festivities for the Winter Formal were cut short, which gave Ben time to find Mal before the curfew took place (not that that would stop him anyway). Following him was Evie, pulling her long blue dress up and running after him with bare feet and heels in hand, who was then followed by Carlos and Jay.

"Ben, you _need_ to kiss her to wake her up," Evie explained as they ran towards the room Mal was kept in, "She can only wake up with an act of true love and you're the only one that can supply that."

Ben stayed silent as they approached the room Mal was being kept in. He didn't know what love was yet, nor did he have confidence that he could wake her up. Love has to come from both people, right? What if _she_ didn't love _him_?

They arrived at the room out of breath, but Ben powered on and opened the door wide. In front of them was Mal, still in the crystal coffin and still sleeping. It broke their hearts to see her like this, however Ben took a deep breath and composed himself. He was going to free her of the curse, whatever it took.

With Jay's help, Ben lifted the lid to the coffin. He looked down and looked at Mal, gently moving a loose strand of hair off her face. No one spoke as he leant down, and slowly pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

She didn't wake up.

* * *

 _"How long have you guys been here?" Mal asked as she nursed the cup of hot chocolate between her hands, sat on a bench next to Alice._

 _"Some longer than others," she explained, "Most of us have lost the concept of time from the outside world."_

 _"What do you mean?" Mal asked as she took a sip of her warm drink._

 _"Time flows differently here than up there," Alice explained, "A minute here could mean an hour there, however an hour there could mean two hours here. I still don't know how it works, but all I know is that they're not the same."_

 _"So we're meant to just wait around for an act of true love while the rest of the world goes on with their lives?" Mal asked shocked._

 _"Well, there are other ways to get out, but no one has ever accomplished it," Alice explained, taking a gulp of her own hot chocolate before continuing, "There is a portal not too far into the woods, but it doesn't work and no one knows how to make it work. If Maleficent made it, she's probably the only one who can make it work."_

 _"Unless..." Mal muttered, pausing before she jumped at her feet, "Do you think you can show me where the portal is?"_

 _"Sure," Alice shrugged, "But just a warning: watch your step."_

* * *

A week later, no one had yet to figure out how to wake Mal.

For the most part, life proceeded as normal. Most people forgot about the unconscious girl, however Ben certainly hadn't, nor had her friends from the Isle.

Ben spent every free moment he had trying to figure out a way to wake her up. He talked to Audrey's parents, did research in the library, but he was still unable to find anything, and he was panicking. Maleficent had been sent back to the Isle and the events of the Winter Formal had been dealt with, however as far as he could tell, Mal wasn't waking up anytime soon.

The sun started to set in the library, signaling it was time for him to go back to his room. However, there was one book that caught his eye, a book he'd never seen before named 'Alice In Wonderland'. Curiously, he picked the book up and stashed it under his arm, making his way to Evie's dorm to update each other on their progress.

Little did he know that the answer was right under his arm.

* * *

 _"...A rabbit hole."_

 _"Yup."_

 _"...You're telling me that our freedom, all of our freedom, relies on me fixing a rabbit giant hole?"_

 _"Precisely."_

 _Mal sigh as she peered down the giant rabbit hole. It was deep and dark with seemingly no end, and it was definitely not something you'd like to fall down. She looked at Alice with a raised eyebrow, wondering exactly what the girl had taken to make her so... Crazy._

 _"Alice, I hate to disappoint but I have no clue how this thing could be a portal," Mal concluded as she knelt down next to the hole, "How are you so sure it's the right one?"_

 _"It's definitely the one," Alice reassured me, "That's how I got here before it closed up, but we just need help reopening it. Do you think you can do it?"_

 _"I can try, but I don't have experience with portals," Mal explained, "Don't you need an act of true love to escape this place?"_

 _"That's only from the other side, but you can escape this place without any outside help from here," Alice explained, "It hasn't been done often, but I have seen it happen and it is possible."_

 _"Alright, lets try this," Mal sigh, placing her hands on the edge of the rabbit hole and concentrating._

 _She could feel the energy of that new world flowing between her fingers, something so exhilarating and magical that she could barely describe it. It was intoxicating, having all that power between her fingertips, and suddenly, she realised why it was so hard to leave this place._

 _The world had been created by her mother, who strived to make the world evil. Therefore, the energy of that world was also evil. She could feel a familiar darkness creeping up inside her, but it was stronger this time. It was consuming her, eating away at her soul, but she wouldn't let that happen again. It was time she played by her own rules._

 _She thought about her friends back on the Isle, the days they'd spent together and the rare moments of pure kindness they'd shown each other. She thought about everything good and beautiful that she'd encountered in her life, and the fuzzy feeling she felt in her chest when she was happy, truly happy. She felt the darkness receding, and a warm burst of energy between her hands._

 _She opened her eyes with a gasp upon seeing her hands. Instead of the familiar dark purple or green energy between them, she was met with bright white flames in her hands. With a smirk, she launched the flames towards the portal, her body thrown backwards into the grass as a big explosion of light blinded her._

 _"Mal! You did it!"_

 _Mal opened her eyes to come face-to-face with Alice, a happy smile on her face and her hands clapping euphorically as people ran towards them. Everyone seemed shocked at the open portal, but began jumping and shouting happily once they realised they were free._

 _"Everyone!" Alice shouted as the crowd quieted down, helping Mal to her feet, "We are finally free, and we have no one but to thank apart from Mal! Now please, gather everyone and bring them to the portal. We're getting out!"_

* * *

Everyone stood around Mal's casket that morning with tears streaming down their eyes. They'd tried and tried, but nothing seemed to be able to wake Mal up. It was finally the day where they'd decided to pull the trigger and let Mal go. She was going to be moved to Sleeping Beauty's tower for safekeeping until one day her true love would come to wake her.

Evie buried her head into Jay's shoulder as she sobbed, unable to bare to look at her best friend for the last time. Carlos and Jay were trying hard not to cry for her, but a few tears had already escaped their eyes. Meanwhile, Ben stared at Mal for the last time, wanting to soak up everything about her before she was taken away.

"How long until they come and get her?" Carlos sniffed, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"Only a few minutes left," Lonnie muttered sadly, looking down to the floor, "It feels like a funeral. Why does it seem like a funeral? She's not dead, right?"

No one answered, because in reality, they didn't know.

Suddenly, a large circle of light formed on the ceiling of the room. Everyone stepped back against the wall, the circle filling up with white light, Ben recognising it as a portal. A figure fell down from the portal, followed by numerous others, until the large room was now filled with more than twenty people. They were helping each other up, large smiles on their faces.

"Uh, excuse me?" Lonnie asked as she tapped one girl on her shoulder, "Who are you?"

"Oh! I'm Alice," the girl introduced herself to Lonnie as Evie, Carlos, Jay and Ben approached her, "Have any of you seen Mal?"

"How do you know Mal?" Evie immediately asked, "And where did you come from?"

"We've all been asleep for god knows how long, and when Mal arrived in the cursed world, she found a way to open up a portal and set us free!" Alice explained in a rush, "She's a hero!"

"She's still asleep though," Carlos muttered, and everyone turned to Mal in the coffin.

The room fell into silence as everyone crowded round Mal. Alice felt tears form in her eyes as she looked at the sleeping body of her new found friend, not going unnoticed by Carlos, who wrapped his hand around hers and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

Suddenly, a familiar bright light began shining from Mal's hands. It covered her body, fading a few seconds later. Everyone held their breath, holding hands in support as suddenly, a gentle breath escaped Mal's lips before her eyes shot wide open.

She groaned as she tried to sit up, Evie and Ben quickly coming to her aid as the room erupted in cheers, the portal on the ceiling closing. Everyone had smiles on their faces, celebrating and hugging each other happily.

"Where am I? Where's my mother?!" Mal asked as she looked around when she came to her senses, "Is everything okay?"

"Calm down," Ben soothed her as he held her hand tightly, "Your mother was dealt with a few days after the Winter Formal. She's back on the Isle now."

"Wait a minute," Mal interrupted in a panic, "How long have I been out for?"

Carlos bit his lip, looking around his small group of friends before Evie finally spoke up.

"Mal, you've been asleep for nearly two months."


	19. Chapter 18: Through The Cracks She Went

The next few days for Mal were a blur.

After she'd woken up, she was immediately rushed to the hospital wing of the school (yes, they had a whole wing for that). They'd immediately determined she was malnourished and decided to keep her there for a few nights. During that time, she'd received numerous visits from her friends, and surprisingly, Audrey.

The ones that would visit the most were Ben and Evie. At first, Mal enjoyed the company. Evie would tell her about what she'd missed, help her keep up with classes and even update her on the most recent fashion trends. However, she soon began dreading these visits when Evie told her a hard-hitting truth;

"We were really worried about you never waking up, especially after Ben kissed you and nothing happened."

And that's when Mal realised.

She didn't love Ben. She barely _knew_ Ben, yet everyone expected them to be together. Everyone expected her to be good now, but regardless of what her mother had done to her, she knew she didn't fit in here and never would. She wasn't necessarily evil, but that didn't mean that she was automatically good either.

She spent the remainder of her nights in the hospital wing thinking about everything that had happened. She liked Ben, and she liked living in Auradon, but she didn't love it. Nothing could compare to the feeling of wind rushing through her hair as she ran around the Isle, or the rush of adrenaline when she beat an enemy. Nothing could compare to how she felt when she was being herself.

As soon as she was released from the hospital wing, Mal made a dash to her room, running as fast as she could. She'd been released early, meaning everyone else would still be in classes for an hour. She grabbed her backpack and began stuffing anything she'd need, writing a quick letter and leaving it on her bed. With one final look at her room, she closed the door and began walking, unknowingly leaving behind a heart beating only for her.

* * *

Ben's heart was beating faster than he thought possible.

As soon as him and his friends had finished their classes, they made their way to Mal's room, knowing that she'd just been released from the hospital wing. However, when they arrived they did not expect to be met with a bare room. In fact, the only sign of Mal was a single letter, written in elegant black ink.

Everyone was nervous as they worriedly glanced at each other. Evie bravely picked up the letter, Lonnie closing the door behind them as Evie began reading.

 _Dear Friends,_

 _I'm sorry for all the inconvenience I've caused over the past few months, however everything that has happened has taught me something valuable; I don't belong in Auradon. I'll admit that I enjoyed the brief time I spent with you all, but I'll never be able to call this place a home._

 _Because home feels like running down a street with no pavements. It feels like being back rather than being in a new place. Auradon may not be my home, but it is yours, and this is why I'm asking you not to follow me. I've left to find my own home, to right the wrongs committed by my mother. I'm not going to be back soon, and so I ask you all to move on._

 _Evie, Jay and Carlos: I'm sorry that we didn't get to make as many memories as I'd liked, but I want you to know that you're my family. You're all strong and wonderful people, and one day I want to see your names in a story book. I may not be able to join you in that adventure, but you don't need me to. You're my family, my real family, and I won't forget that._

 _Lonnie: I'm sorry we didn't get to know each other better, but you have a fire like your mother that I've never seen in anyone else before. Keep that fire going, no matter what._

 _Jack: stop being such an ice prince. You need to open up to more people, because as much as you try to hide it, I know you're warm inside._

 _Audrey and Chad: I've never really liked you. That's it._

 _Ben: I'm sorry we didn't fall in love, and I'm sorry we weren't your perfect fairytale couple, but something you should know about me is that I slip through the cracks of this place. We're not picture perfect, never were and never will be, and I need you to move on and find someone who deserves you. I'm sorry._

 _I don't fit into your fairytales. I don't blame you if you decide to write me out, but please at least let me end mine. Thank you all for what you've taught me, but it's time I go._

 _The End._

* * *

 _ **A/N: ...The end I guess.**_

 _ **But don't fret! I've already begun writing a sequel! But first, I'd like to explain a few things about this ending.**_

 ** _I don't believe that Mal and Ben could possibly be in love so quickly. Mal is not a Disney princess, hence the title 'Through The Cracks'. She is strong without needing someone to make her strong, and being with Ben so quickly would diminish this part of her personality. So, I decided that the only way Mal could be herself was not to be surrounded by the looming pressure of a perfect fairytale._**

 ** _**THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT BEN AND MAL WON'T BE TOGETHER EVENTUALLY**_**

 ** _Right now, they're teenagers, however as I previously mentioned I WILL be writing a sequel. It will be set a few years in the future, and this is where I need your help._**

 ** _What do you guys want to happen to these characters in the sequel? I'm open for suggestions, literally anything, and I will definetly be taking them into consideration. However, I guess for now that this is the end._**

 ** _Thank you so much to everyone who's favourited, followed and reviewed this story. You guys have boosted my confidence as a writer, and I can never thank you enough for this. Special thanks goes out to_** _pinksakura271 **and guest reviewer** Biggest fan **for reviewing so often. You guys boosted my moral nearly every day, and I'm so thankful for that.**_

 _ **So for now, I'm saying goodbye, but the sequel will be coming out soon. Until next time x**_


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